600-yr-old stolen Hanuman idol traced; retrieved from Australia
Smuggling network active even after kingpin Subhash Kapoor’s arrest
CHENNAI: Indicating that the international idol smuggling network remained active even after the arrest of smuggling kingpin Subhash Kapoor in 2011, the Idol Wing CID traced a 600-year-old Hanuman idol, believed to be from the Vijayanagara dynasty era, that was stolen from a temple in Ariyalur in 2012, to a private collector in Australia. The idol has been handed over to the Indian mission in Canberra, the wing said on Thursday.
Months after Kapoor’s arrest in Germany in 2011, idols of Varadaraja
Perumal, Sridevi, Boodevi and Hanuman were stolen from Varadaraja Perumal temple in Velur village near Sendhurai, Ariyalur district in 2012. Of these, the Hanuman idol reached New York, where a private collector in the US procured it from Christie’s auction house and took it to Australia where he is residing.
Though the case was initially closed, the then head of State police transferred the probe to the Idol Wing CID in 2020.
The sleuths searched the websites of several art galleries and museums abroad in search of the stolen idols and compared the antiques displayed there with the photos of the ones missing from the Ariyalur temple.
Finally, they found that the image of the Hanuman idol displayed in Christie’s auction house in New York was the same as the idol stolen from here. The officials found that the idol was bought by a US citizen, a private art collector now residing in Australia.
Through efforts undertaken through the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India, the person was contacted and informed about the provenance of the idol. After learning that it was a stolen artefact, the collector handed over the Hanuman
idol to the Australian government through the US embassy there.
It was in turn handed over to the Indian High Commission at Canberra, thus finally returning the stolen idol to India. Idol Wing officials will receive it from the ASI, Delhi, soon, said a press note from Idol Wing, adding that it would then be handed over to the people of Tamil Nadu through the Special Court in Kumbakonam.