MADURAI: Tamil Nadu DGP (Idol Wing CID) Dr K Jayanth Murali on Friday handed over two metal idols Gangalamoorthi and Nandhikeshwarar of Arulmigu Narasinganathar Temple of Alwarkurichi in Tenkasi to temple authorities at the City Police Office in Madurai.
He said these idols were stolen from the temple in 1985 and were repatriated from the art galleries of the USA and brought to Tamil Nadu early this month. Further, he said they brought in 10 idols, including two stone idols, from Australia and the USA, earlier this month. Of these, five were already handed over to respective temples and two are with court.
"Of the remaining three, two belonging to Narasinganathar Temple are now being handed over to the temple authorities, while one will be kept in the museum as the department does not have the details about which temple it belongs to," he said.
Further, he said 40 more idols from the State were still abroad and the department was taking all efforts to bring them back. "We have arrested many persons involved in idol theft. We are still searching for the accused in Narasinganathar Temple idol theft case as the incident happened long ago. We are using reverse investigation to identify them," he said.
Regarding the 'Maragatha idol' missing case in Madurai, he said that the department has identified the accused and sleuths are taking steps to retrieve the idol.
'Stolen long ago'
The DGP said they are still searching for the accused in Narasinganathar Temple idol theft case as the theft happened long ago