CHENNAI: The Idol Wing CID seized three artefacts belonging to the 11th century from a handicrafts shop at North Chithirai Street in Madurai. The artefacts were kept without proper documentation. Based on a tip-off, the Idol Wing CID searched the shop on Monday and found three artefacts without proper documents.
The three artefacts (in pic) are a stone carving of Shiva and Parvathi, a female stone figure and the head of a stone idol. The police said that as per an expert opinion, the artefacts belong to the Pala Dynasty and could have been stolen from temples in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
A statement from Idol Wing said the police will produce the artefacts before the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) for inspection and take the necessary steps to identify the temple from where they were stolen. The shop owner Jagur Ahmed Sarker (42) was booked and has been given a week to provide proper documents, failing which he faces arrest.