(From left) Kamareddy SP N. Swetha, Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.V. Srinivasa Rao and Commissioner’s Task Force DCP P. Radhakishan Rao with the recovered artefacts in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Hyderabad

04 February 2018 22:25 IST

The market value of the idols, stolen from Kamareddy temple, estimated at ₹3 crore

With the busting of the two-member inter-state gang here on Sunday, the Hyderabad police have solved the theft of three antique panchaloha idols from the 150-year-old Venugopala Swamy temple in Kamareddy town that took place last month.

The duo who orchestrated the theft were nabbed by Commissioner’s task force north zone team while they were trying to dispose of the idols at Afzalgunj in the city. The idols of Lord Venugopalaswamy, goddess Rukmini and goddess Sathyabhama, which had been the processional deities of the temple, were recovered intact from their possession.

According to Hyderabad Commissioner of Police V.V. Srinivasa Rao, the theft took place between 6.30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on January 27 when the temple was closed.

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According to him, international market value of the idols, believed to be about 600 years old, was over ₹ 3 crore.

“Considering the antique value of the idols, the north zone task force nabbed the accused within a week of the theft being reported,” he said. The accused were identified as Shaik Hyder (25) and Shaik Aziz (24), both hailing from Bidar district of Karnataka. Mr. Rao said the gang was found to be involved in similar offences in Maharashtra and had planned to sell the idols to antique idol smugglers here.

“In October last year, the gang committed theft of an antique panchaloha idol of Lord Mahavira weighing about seven kg from a Jain temple in Hingoli in Maharashtra and a panchaloha idol of Lord Siva from Kedarling temple in Killari in Latur district of Maharashtra in November 2017,” he said, adding that the duo used to target temples in rural areas.

Kamareddy Superintendent of Police N Swetha told The Hindu that the processional deities had been kept inside the temple along with the main idols for years. “The temple is very small and ancient. Only locals knew about it,” she said.

She said the incident came to light when a devotee had found the doors of the sanctum sanctorum broken and the idols missing. The devotee had reported the matter to the priest, who had alerted the police.

When asked about the significance of the idols, she said, “locals believe that the idols belong to the Kakatiya era. However, the exact age of the idols is yet to be ascertained scientifically.” She said the accused left the silver jewellery, with which the idols were adorned, in the temple and fled with the processional deities. The accused were handed over to the Kamareddy town police for further investigation.