TIRUCHY: A team of personnel from the Idol Wing of State police seized a three-foot-tall Natarajar statue, believed to be worth Rs 8 crore, and detained two at Irugur division near Coimbatore-Palladam road on Sunday. The suspects have been identified as T Jayanth (22) of Mettur and H Sivaprasath Namboothiri (53) of Palakkad.
Addressing media, ADSP of Central Zone Idol Wing, G Balamurugan, said Inspector Premasanthakumari, sub-inspectors Pandiarajan and Rajesh of Madurai unit of the wing approached the sellers posing as buyers and convinced them to bring the idol to Coimbatore. Jayanth and Sivaprasath were detained when they were heading to the pre-determined location in a car with the idol.
The statue, weighing 26.8 kilogrammes, has a length of 85 cm and a width of 71 cm. It was handed over to the Kumbakonam court. Police sources said the exact age of the statue could be ascertained after detailed examination. “Based on a document we seized from the duo, we believe the statue is 300 years old. It will be handed over to the archaeology department for further probe,” they added.