MADURAI: At a time when the team led by Inspector General of Police (Idol Wing) Pon Manickavel has been engaging in the recovery of idols and other artefacts that were stolen from the State, four panchaloga idols were stolen from Chitra Ratha Valabha Perumal Temple, famously known as Kuruvithurai Gurubhagavan Temple, on Saturday night.
The centuries-old temple, maintained by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, is located some 33 km away from Madurai and is administered by an executive officer. The missing ‘Ucharva’ idols of Perumal, Panchamurthi, Sridevi and Boodevi were centuries old and have been placed in front of the main deity of Chitra Ratha Valabha Perumal.
Sources said that the idol of Perumal weighed around 8.36 kg and was about 45 cm in height and 17 cm in breadth.
“The idol of Sridevi weighs around 6.38kg and is 42 cm in height and 15cm in width. Panchamurthi weighs around 4.9kg measures 49 cm X 14 cm and Boodevi weighs around 6.64 kg and measures 42cm X 13,” they said adding that another more centuries-old idol of Chakrathalwar was not stolen by the miscreants.
The miscreants gained entry into the temple by climbing over the 20-feet-tall boundary wall and later entered the ‘Karpagraha’ by breaking open a grill gate.
Police said that it was a well-executed plan and that a few persons might have hidden inside the temple in the night hours itself. However, the modus operandi is not yet clear.
“The incident happened between 12.20 and 1.10 am. The CCTV footage reveals the presence of two miscreants. A few more persons might also be involved in the looting,” they said.
Meanwhile, the security guards of the temple, on condition of anonymity, said that when they were sleeping outside the temple they heard the alarm blaring between 12 and 1 am.
“We thought the alarm was set off by the monkeys and did not take it seriously,” said a security personnel. Later in the morning upon seeing the cotton clothes near the compound wall along the bank of Vaigai river, they alerted the temple authorities.
Both fingerprint experts and dog squad immediately rushed to the spot. Superintendent of Police N Manivannan directed to form special teams to nab the miscreants. Idol Wing personnel also inspected the spot.
Suspecting that the thieves might have hidden the idols in nearby wells, the police along with fire service personnel have been checking the wells in the area.