Five idols stolen from TN temples recovered in Karaikal, two heldTNNPuducherry: The Karaikal town police have arrested two people and recovered five ancient idols from their possession that were stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu. Police seized their car used for transporting the stolen antiques and their mobile phones.Acting on a tip-off, a special police team led by Karaikal town inspector P Arivuselvan searched a house located in the Keezha Theru, Dharmapuram, in the town limits and found the idols.When the team demanded the residents of the house, identified as M Abiramasundaram, 44, from Karaikal and J Shajahan, 46, from Nagapattinam district, for ownership details of the idols, they failed to produce any legal documents.The team immediately confiscated the idols and took the two into custody for interrogation. Inquiries revealed that out of the five recovered artefacts, four were stolen from the Nilakanteswarar temple at Iluppappattu village near Manalmedu, Mayiladuthurai district, Tamil Nadu. The two were not aware of the origin of the fifth idol, police said. They were booked them under sections 35 (1) (d) and 106 of the BNSS and arrested them.Karaikal police alerted their Tamil Nadu counterparts and a joint probe has begun to trace the idol smuggling network.Eom
