Idols stolen from temple in Tirupur
Three panchaloha idols were stolen from a temple at Nadupatti on the outskirts of Tirupur city. The police have formed a special team to nab the culprits. Thiruvengadamudaiya Srinivasa Perumal temple is situated at Nadupatti village about 22 km away from Tirupur city. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department had taken the temple under its control three years ago and had appointed two priests T Narayanan, 56 and his brother T Srinivasan, 51 at the temple.
On Saturday around 8 pm, the priests closed the temple and went home. On Sunday around 8 am, Srinivasan came to the temple and found the front door of the temple opened. He found that three Panchaloha idols were missing from the temple and alerted Uthukuli police who rushed to the spot and held inquiry with the priests and the locals. Police said, some unidentified persons jumped into the compound wall of the temple and broke open the door.
They disconnect the burglary alarm wire and decamped with Srinivasa Perumal, Sridevi and Poodevi idols. According to police, the burglars had already visited the temple and had knowledge about the burglary alarm. The idols were one and half feet height each and weighing about 130 kg. The police said the idols worth around one lakh rupees. "My brother went to temple and found that the idols were missing. The temple is 500 years old," said Narayanan.
"We have lifted finger prints from the crime spot and will match with the priest's. We believed three persons would have involved in the burglary and have formed a special team to nab the culprits," said K Palanisamy, inspector (in-charge), Uthukuli police station.