Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu): Based on a petition filed by Narayanaswamy before the Idol Wing CID of Tamil Nadu police, the department conducted an inquiry. The trail of precious idols theft was found in the US and Canada. The petitioner belonging to Sivapuram village near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, had submitted the application to the DGP of the Idol Wing CID, K Jayanth Murali, for tracing the stolen idols. The precious idols had been stolen about six years ago.
During the investigation, the police found the antique idol of Somaskandar, made of bronze, taken to Norton Simon Museum in California, the United States, and another precious idol belonging to Thani Amman Temple landed in Denver Museum, Canada.
Read: Stolen bronze idols of Hindu gods recovered in UK handed over to Tamil Nadu
The petitioner Narayanaswamy, in his application to Tamil Nadu police, had mentioned that antique and precious idols installed at Sivagurunathan Swamy Temple in Sivapuram were fake and the original idols had been stolen. Following this, police began an investigation.
Tamil Nadu first obtained the original pictures of the idols from the French Institute of Puducherry for reference purposes. Then they matched the pictures with the idols of Somaskandar and the one kept at Theni Amman temple. But they didn't match with the original pictures. The thieves had stolen the original idols and replicas were kept at the temples to hoodwink people and police.
