20 antique idols seized from French national’s residence


PTI, Sep 12, 2022, 4:04 PM IST

Representational Image by iStock

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID thwarted an attempt to smuggle antique idols out of the country and seized 20 idols from the residence of a French national in Auroville, police said on Monday.

Following information that a handicrafts shop illegally dealt with stolen antique artefacts belonging to Tamil Nadu, the Idol Wing initiated a search on September 11 under the leadership of Inspector Indira, after obtaining an order from the Judicial Magistrate.

Documents pertaining to 20 antique items which the dealer tried to assist a French national in smuggling to France by obtaining the Archaeological Survey of India’s clearance were discovered on the premises, during the search of the shop.

With the address obtained from the seized documents, the Idol Wing searched the residence of the French national, a resident, in Auroville, and 20 artefacts including 13 stone idols and 4 metal images were seized,” a release here said. One wooden artefact, a painting and a terracotta were also seized.

The French national had planned to take the artefacts to France but could not as the ASI disallowed it upon examining them, suspecting them to be antiques. “The French national from whose premises the idols were recovered was in France at the time of the search,” the release further said.

A case has been registered and the images of Ganesh, Vishnu, Parvati, Ayyappan, Hanuman and Murugan, which were part of the seizure, were produced in the additional Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Kumbakonam.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Jayant Patil claims BJP used irrigation ‘scam’ to blackmail Ajit Pawar; Fadnavis, NCP chief hit back

Medical College expels 5 MBBS students from hostel for ragging juniors

Insulting women is in DNA of Cong leaders, alleges Jharkhand BJP

Man arrested from Delhi for calling up Pappu Yadav posing as aide of Lawrence Bishnoi

Tejasvi Surya hits out at Kharge, CMs of Cong-ruled states over poll promises

Farooq Abdullah seeks inquiry into spike in terror attacks in Valley since Omar’s swearing-in

Sabarimala pilgrims to get free insurance coverage of Rs five lakh

Related Articles More

Jayant Patil claims BJP used irrigation ‘scam’ to blackmail Ajit Pawar; Fadnavis, NCP chief hit back

Medical College expels 5 MBBS students from hostel for ragging juniors

Insulting women is in DNA of Cong leaders, alleges Jharkhand BJP

Man arrested from Delhi for calling up Pappu Yadav posing as aide of Lawrence Bishnoi

Shah Rukh Khan turns 59, fans wait outside Mannat to catch superstar’s glimpse

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

Jayant Patil claims BJP used irrigation ‘scam’ to blackmail Ajit Pawar; Fadnavis, NCP chief hit back

Medical College expels 5 MBBS students from hostel for ragging juniors

Insulting women is in DNA of Cong leaders, alleges Jharkhand BJP

Man arrested from Delhi for calling up Pappu Yadav posing as aide of Lawrence Bishnoi

Tejasvi Surya hits out at Kharge, CMs of Cong-ruled states over poll promises

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.