Idol Wing CID police search for peacock idol in Mylapore temple tank

The team could not find any idol and is likely to search again next week

A team of the Idol Wing-CID, with the help of Fire and Rescue Services personnel, on Monday carried out a search in the Kapaleeswarar temple tank in Mylapore for a peacock idol, which was reported to be missing from Punnaivananathar shrine since 2004. 

On July 23, 2018, Rangarajan Narasimhan of Srirangam lodged a complaint against a few individuals, including archakas and temple officials, about theft of three idols, including that of Parvathi in the form of peacock, at the Kapaleeswarar temple.

The complaint was investigated by the Idol Wing and it came to light that three idols — Parvathi in the form of peacock, Raahu and Kethu — were swapped at the time of kumbabhishekam of the temple held in 2004 and subsequently stolen. In connection with this,  a case has been pending in the Madras High court. 

The Idol Wing recently submitted to the court that some witnesses had claimed that the peacock idol might have been buried in the temple tank. The police said they had approached experts from Anna University to ascertain the availability of a mechanism to locate the stone idol without causing disturbance to the temple tank bed. The court gave another opportunity to explore the possibility of tracing the idol. 

On Monday, personnel from the Idol Wing CID and Fire and Rescue Services went around in rubber boats in the temple tank and conducted a search. Divers were engaged in the search operation. 

Idol Wing CID DGP K. Jayanth Murali said: “The experts at Anna University used the ground penetration radar at places where the idol or other things were buried, including under Punnai tree. We found some pillars and other things but we were not able to trace the idols.”