The Madras High Court has orally instructed the Inspector General of Police, Idol Wing CID, A.G. Ponn Manickavel to appear in the court on June 29, with all the relevant records pertaining to an allegation that two officials were involved in the theft of idols worth ₹20 crore.
Justice R. Mahadevan passed the instruction on a plea filed by advocate Elephant G. Rajendran seeking the transfer of idol theft cases against former Idol Wing inspector Khader Basha and constable Subburaj to the CB-CID, Chennai.
According to the petitioner, on April 12 an unidentified person had left a three-page unsigned letter on the windshield of his car. The letter mentioned serious allegations against officials of the Idol Wing. “The person who claimed to be an ex-policeman attached to the wing alleged in the letter that the then Inspector of the wing, Mr. Khader Basha, in collusion with other officials illegally sold ancient panchaloha idols of Hindu deities that were recovered from a smuggler in Aruppukottai, Virudhunagar,” the petitioner said.
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The advocate, who claimed to have made a preliminary investigation into the allegation, said that his inquiry revealed that a case had been registered by the Idol Wing but the investigation was being done by an inspector of the wing.
He said this was inappropriate since an officer below the rank of the suspect cannot hold an independent inquiry.
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Arrested on Monday
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Meanwhile, Mr. Manickavel told The Hindu that a case had been registered and Special Sub-Inspector Subburaj, who was then head constable, was arrested on Monday. “We detected the case after eight years,” he said.