Bid to smuggle 600-year-old idol foiled, four arrested

CHENNAI: A bid to smuggle out a 600-year-old ancient panchaloha idol from Uttiramerur to Singapore by a gang was foiled with the arrest of four persons on the Chennai-Bangalore Highway near Ariyaperumpakkam in Kancheepuram district on Tuesday.

The 52 cm tall idol of Sundaramoorthy Nayanar weighs around 17 kg, Idol Wing police said.
The police said that Karthick (25), Dakshinamoorthy (29), Sekar (28) all residents of Ozhugarai village, Uthiramerur and Mahendren (41) of Tiruvannamalai were allegedly waiting in a white car to sell the idol to a Singapore-based broker at Ariyaperumpakkam when they were apprehended.

The police are now hunting for the broker and two others. Of the four arrested, Dakshinamoorthy is an engineer working in a private thermal company in Kancheepuram and Karthick has completed diploma and was a sales manager in a private firm. A case has been registered in Baluchetty Chatram Police station and transferred to Idol Wing immediately.