Deenadayalan’s aide held, 9 more idols seized

The Idol Wing CID arrested Lakshmi alias Lakshminarayanan, an accomplice of idol smuggler Deenadayalan, and seized nine panchaloha idols, on Friday.

The idols stolen from various temples in the State were recovered from his bungalow in Kuchikaadu located near Karanai village on ECR, sources said.

A senior official of the Idol Wing said the 51-year-old accused, whose native was Mysuru, already has two criminal cases pending in Kumbakonam for stealing 32 idols from various temples. The Idol Wing CID nabbed Lakshminarayanan based on a confession by Deenadayalan.

The accused was produced before the Judicial Magistrate and remanded to custody.

The idols would be produced before the 2nd Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Egmore on Monday.

The officials of the Idol Wing CID are waiting to get a warrant to search the gallery on the premises of the bungalow where they suspect the accused has kept several ancient vahanams that were part of temple processions.

Idols of Ardhanareeshwarar, Manickavasagar, Amman and Rajamannar and two consorts are among the nine panchaloha idols seized from Lakshminarayanan’s bungalow, sources said.