An idol of Lord Hanuman, which was stolen nearly a decade ago from Ariyalur district and auctioned off, has now been recovered.
The statue, which was kept in Australia, was returned to Indian High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra at Canberra, Australia. Australian Chargé d'Affaires Michael Goldman returned the 500-year-old artefact.
A senior official of the Idol Wing said the statue was stolen from the Varadharaja Perumal temple of Velur village on the night of April 9, 2012. Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajaram identified the statue which was on sale at an auction website.