Chennai: The driving license left behind by one of the robbers while escaping led the Tiruporur police to Maragathalingam stolen from the 400-year-old Suyambu Lingeshwarar temple at Illalur near Tiruporur in Kancheepuram district 10 days ago.
Two persons were arrested from Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district on Monday and the stolen idol, supposedly worth '2 crore was recovered from them, police said.
Hunt is on for the mastermind and another person involved in the robbery, police said. The arrested persons were identified as Arul (36) of Mannargudi and Ramesh (37) of Uthandi near East Coast Road.
On June 24, a four-member gang who came on two bikes stole the lingam, according to the police. While escaping from the locals who gave a chase, the gang left behind a motorbike and all four of them drove away in the same vehicle. Public handed over the bike to the police who found that the bike was a stolen one. However, a driving license was recovered from the pouch on the petrol tank, which proved to be an asset to the investigators.
The license belonged to S. Ganesh (38) of Venkateshwara Nagar in Ramapuram, Chennai. When cops descended on his address, Ganesh was not to be found. Subsequent investigations with his brother revealed that Ganesh has been cheating people by posing as a fake godman and was disowned by the family. “We secured a phone number and traced its location to Mannargudi,” a police officer said.
When the cops reached Mannargudi, only Arul and Ramesh were there, while Ganesh and another accomplice fled the scene. “Initially, the duo claimed innocence to the whereabouts of the stolen idol. But, soon, they gave in. The idol was secured from a garbage bin in which they had the idol hidden,” the officer added.
The arrested duo were produced before a magistrate in Tirukazhukundram and remanded to judicial custody. Investigations revealed that the main suspect, Ganesh, had visited the temple for the past six months devising a plan.
