Antique idols, manuscripts seized from an art emporium in Chennai
The Hindu
Three metal idols of Lord Nataraja and one of Lord Krishna found
The Idol Wing CID Police has seized three antique idols and Buddhist manuscripts from a popular art gallery located in Alwarpet.
This is the second seizure made by the special unit in the last four months from art galleries displaying art and artefacts for sale. In November last, the police seized five antique idols from Cottage Industries Exposition Pvt. Ltd, an art gallery located on Nungambakkam High Road and its departmental store from Thanjavur on charges of illegal possession.
On reliable information, the officers of Idol Wing CID on Thursday night searched the Cottage Arts Emporium, T.T.K. Road, Alwarpet. During the search, the team found two metal idols of Nataraja, one idol of Lord Krishna, and 11 bundles of ancient manuscripts containing Buddhist inscriptions. The country of origin and language of the manuscripts are under verification. But they were definitely antique in nature, the police said.
Additional Director-General of Police, Idol Wing CID, K. Jayanth Murali, said the items were clandestinely concealed in the basement of the shop and the proprietors had no papers and had so far been unable to reveal the origin of the items.
The opinion of the Archaeological Survey of India has been sought and efforts were on to find out the temples to which the idols belonged and the country of origin of the manuscripts. An expert who inspected the idols said that except the one feet metallic idol of Nataraja, the remaining idols and the manuscripts were antique and worth several crores of rupees in the international market, said Mr. Murali.
The police said Kurshid Ahamed and Mustaq Ahamed, natives of Kashmir running the emporium, have been summoned for an inquiry.
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