Idol Wing CID team seizes Balaji idol in Gobichettipalayam
The Hindu
It was stolen a few years ago from a temple at Mandya in Karnataka by the temple’s priest and sold to an advocate
The Idol Wing CID has seized an idol of Lord Balaji from a house in Gobichettipalayam, Erode district. Initial inquiries revealed that the idol was stolen a few years ago from a temple at Mandya in Karnataka by the temple’s priest, and sold to an advocate.
Two sub-inspectors from Madurai unit of the Idol Wing CID, under the supervision of Additional Superintendent of Police, Balamurugan in Tiruchi, conducted the special operation. Initially, the officers posed as wealthy antique dealers and approached a broker at a coffee shop. The police said that the broker had revealed to them about a “600-year-old antique Balaji idol”, under the possession of his old friend, which he could arrange to sell to them for ₹33 crore. He led the officers to the house of an advocate S. Palanisamy at VIP Muthu Nagar in Nagarpalayam, Gobichettipalayam. The advocate agreed to sell the idol to the officers, who were pretending to be antique dealers, for ₹15 crore, and the officers promised to come the next day with the money. However, when whey appeared at Palanisamy’s house the next day, and when the advocate brought the idol out, a police team seized the idol.
According to the police, Palanisamy revealed that he had worked as a junior advocate under late P. Natarajan in Gobichettipalayam, who knew a priest, working in a temple in Mandya. The priest had requested Natarajan to arrange some money for him and promised him, in return, the antique idol worth several crores of rupees from the palace/temple where he was then working. The details of the temple and identity of the Pujari are not known at this juncture as Natarajan passed away in 2018.
As Natarajan was unable to sell the idol for long, he decided to take the help of Palanisamy and handed over the idol to the latter. However, Palanisami was also unable to sell the idol due to its exorbitant rate. He, therefore, decided to engage brokers to assist him despite which, he was unable to land a sale. Hence, in 2021, he followed the advice of one of his brokers and brought down the price of the idol from ₹50 crore to ₹33 crore, said a press release from office of the Director General of Police, Idol Wing CID, K. Jayanth Murali.
The seized idol is 58 cm tall and weighs 22.8 kg. It will be produced before the special court in Kumbakonam.
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