The officers of the Idol Wing CID have arrested four persons for allegedly possessing a rare antique sculpture of a royal woman of the Sethupathy clan. The arrested persons tried to sell the sculpture for over ₹2 crore.
The officers received information that P. Arumugaraj, 56, of Padukkapathu village, and M. Kumaravel, 32, resident of Idaichivilai, Sathankulam taluk, Thoothukudi, were trying to sell the sculpture. On receiving the information, a special team was formed. The police personnel approach the dealers posing as customers.
The Arumugaraj and Kumaravel told them that K. Musthafa of Woraiyur in Tiruchi had the sculpture. They negotiated the price for ₹2 crore. Mustafa and the two brokers agreed to bring the sculpture to a spot on the Tiruchi-Madurai highway junction. When Musthafa brought it wrapped in a black bag, the officers surrounded them and seized the sculpture after arresting the three.
Further interrogation with the three revealed that they had obtained the antique piece from N. Selvakumar of Kilamadam in Sivaganga district. He was arrested by the team and he told the police that the antique had been in his possession for the last 23 years and it was left behind by his father Nagarajan, who died five years ago. Nagarajan was an astrologer who received the idol from a coconut merchant of Sivaganga. As of now, the identity and address of the coconut merchant was not known.
Idol Wing CID said the experts who examined the idol confirmed it to be an antique sculpture of a royal woman of the Sethupathy clan, who presided over the areas in Sivaganga district, 400 years ago.
Investigation is under way to find the original source of the idol, those who stole it and its antiquity.
Meanwhile, the four arrested persons have been remanded in judicial custody after being produced in a court.
