‘Lost’ precious stones of temple found

As many as 12 diamonds, worth crores of rupees, which went missing from the famed Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple here, have been recovered from the shrine premises itself by a special investigation team.

The precious stones form part of the ornaments adorning the idol of Lord Sree Padmanabha, the principal deity who is on a reclining position at the centuries-old temple.

As per the primary assessment, it was not a case of theft and also assumed that the stones had accidentally fallen off from the ornaments while dealing with, the investigator added.

According to a senior Crime Branch officer, the recovered gems were part of 26 diamonds, reported missing from the temple years ago.

“Besides these diamonds, the investigation team stumbled up on some other valuables also during the inspection as part of the probe,” the officer told PTI.

The recovered diamonds are worth crores of rupees but their exact value was yet to be calculated, the officer said, adding probe was on and the rest of the missing gems could also be recovered soon.

The temple, dedicated to Lord Padmanabha, has hogged media attention after its four underground cellars revealed gold ornaments, vessels, jewels and precious stones worth hundreds of crore rupees during an inspection.