Chennai, Aug 7 (BPNS)

Tamil Nadu idol wing police arrested four people following the seizure of a 400-year-old idol believed to be of King Sethupathi’s clan Sivaganga.  Police acted on a tip-off that two men,  P. Arumugaraj (56) and M. Kumaravel (36) of Tuticorin were in the process of selling an idol and laid a trap.

A police officer posed as a decoy and agreed to buy the idol for a few crores of rupees. The duo informed the police that the idol was with one Musthafa of Uriyur in Tiruchi district.

The duo contacted Mustafa and the three agreed to bring the idol to a secluded place at Tiruchi- Madurai Kalapatti Road junction. Mustafa met the policemen disguised as the buyer along with Kumaravel and Arumugaraj and the idol police squad who were hiding in the surroundings pounced on them and arrested the three along with the idol.

On interrogation, Mustafa revealed that he got the idol from a person named Selvakumar of Sivaganga.  Idol wing team went to Sivaganga and arrested Selvakumar who revealed that his father was an astrologer and during his travels, he got the idol from a coconut merchant.

A senior officer of the idol wing police told BPNS that they will approach the Archeological Survey of India for determining the exact period of the idol and then would try to ascertain from where it was stolen.