Shocked by two former officers of Idol Wing-Criminal Investigation Department (IW-CID) trading serious charges of misfeasance and malfeasance against each other, while investigating idol theft cases involving culture, heritage, faith and emotion of the nation, the Madras High Court on Friday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to find out who of the two was speaking the truth.
Justice G. Jayachandran passed the order while allowing a petition filed by former Deputy Superintendent of Police I. Kader Batcha, who was not allowed to retire from service due to charges of having a tacit understanding with idol thieves. The petitioner had accused retired Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.G. Ponn Manickavel of having helped international idol smuggler Subash Chandra Kapoor and his local agent Deenadayalan.
The judge pointed out the service records of the petitioner disclose he was serving as an Inspector of Police since 1998 and got transferred to IW-CID from Tirunelveli Range in 2007. Thereafter, in 2011, he was transferred to Chennai police. During his tenure in the IW-CID, he had received several commendation certificates from his superiors for having recovered over 38 idols and securing eight notorious smugglers.
