Thirty-six persons convicted in two months for idols thefts in Tamil Nadu temples

Thirty-six persons were convicted in seven cases of idol thefts which were reported from different temples in the last two months. Perhaps, this is the first time more convictions have been reported in the cases booked by Idol Wing CID (IW-CID) Police. 

Thirty-six persons were convicted in seven cases of idol thefts which were reported from different temples in the last two months. Perhaps, this is the first time more convictions have been reported in the cases booked by Idol Wing CID (IW-CID) Police. 

All these cases were reported in Irumbilikurichi, Ariyalur district; Serakulam, Thoothukudi district; Kuthalam, Mayiladuthurai district, and Pallikaranai between 2004- 2017. 

Among those cases, the temple burglary at a temple in Serakulam is a notable one. This burglary was reported in 2014. Unidentified persons broke into Somasundareswarar Nithyakalyani Sivan temple in Serakulam village on the night of September 29, 2004 and stole three antique idols- Natarajar, Sivakami Amman, and Devi. Subsequently, the idols were recovered and 11 persons were arrested and the trial was conducted before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Kumbakonam. Nine persons were convicted and six of them got punishment of seven year-imprisonment and three more were sentenced to an imprisonment of three years. Most of the accused are from the locals in all these cases. 

Additional Director General of Police (Idol Wing CID), Shailesh Kumar Yadav, told The Hindu, “We are conducting review meetings with our officers regularly and gave instructions to them to conduct speedy trial and get the accused convicted. We have instructed our officers that there should not be delay on our part and we need to complete the trial expeditiously.“

The Idol Wing CID also wrote to the government to set up two more special courts in Chennai and Madurai for exclusive trial of idol theft cases since the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Court is the sole designated court.  Prior to 2017, the State had three designated courts, one each in Srivilliputhur, Kumbakonam and Chennai, to handle the idol theft cases. Following an order of Madras High Court in 2017, the designated courts in Srivilliputhur and Chennai ceased to act and all cases of idol thefts were transferred to ACJM, Kumbakonam. 

The officer also pointed out that the location of only designated court in Kumbakonam is causing difficulties to IW-CID staff from north and south districts when they have to produce the accused. There is heavy expenditure due to long distance travel, he added.