Efforts on to recover from UK, Netherlands and Singapore three idols stolen from Tamil Nadu temples

The Idol Wing-CID of the Tamil Nadu Police has stepped up efforts to recover three idols — Thirumangai Alwar, Kannappa Nayanar, and Hanuman — from the UK, the Netherlands, and Singapore.

- S VENKAT NARAYAN OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Officials expressed the hope that the idols will soon be brought back to India and returned to their respective temples.

Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP) and Idol Wing-CID chief Kalpana Nayak has been corresponding with the foreign museums, the Union Ministry of Culture, and the respective foreign offices.

Auction halted

Ms. Nayak told The Hindu: "We are in touch with the authorities in those countries through proper channels. The idols are those of Lord Hanuman, Kannappa Nayanar, and Thirumangai Alwar. We have submitted documents to the Singapore museum requesting the return of the Hanuman idol."

"Officials of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, also visited the Sudaraperumal Koil in Kumbakonam, and we have established that the Thirumangai Alwar idol belongs to that temple. They have agreed to return the idol soon," she added.

She went on: "We are also pursuing the Kannappa Nayanar idol case. The auction of the idol was stopped owing to our intervention. Two museums have requested replicas of the idols in exchange for the originals, and that process is under way.