5 men cast net for fish, find 2 idols

Erode: Five men, who were fishing in a canal near Pasur Panangkattupudur here on Sunday, stumbled upon a jute sack containing two metal idols. Revenue officials, suspecting the idols could be made of panchaloha, are planning to send them to a laboratory to test the make-up of the idols.
The fishermen, S Rajendran, 29, and P Devaraj, 20, V Jagadeesh, 19, S Mouni, 22, and P Shankar, 22, from Pasur Panangkattupudur village, were fishing in the Kalingarayan Canal near Unjalur.
“We cast a net in the stagnated water of the canal. After sometime, when we pulled the net, we found a jute sack in it. Inside it, we found two metal idols — a 2.5-ft Vinayakar idol and a 1-ft Natarajar idol,” Rajendran said.
Immediately, the fishermen alerted the Malayampalayam police and local revenue inspector Ramesh Karthik. They reached the spot and inspected the idols.
The revenue inspector said he would hand over the idols to collector C Kathiravan on Monday. “It could be made of panchaloha. We will send them to a laboratory for a test,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Malayampalayam police have registered a case and initiated an inquiry. “We have alerted Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) officials to check whether the idols were part of missing idols,” a police officer said.