The idol shows Kannapa Nayanar - a devotee of Lord Shiva - standing on a pedestal and placing his right hand on the head. There are intricate carvings all over the body.
Chennai:Tamil Nadu Police's Idol Wing has stopped the auction of an antique at the European Fine Arts Exhibition in the Netherlands. The idol, dating to the 11th or 12th century, was stolen from the Arulmigu Agneeswaraswamy Temple in Nagapattinam fifteen years ago, NDTV was told.
Leads were scarce at that time, but Tamil Nadu Police kept their heads down, followed the clues, and cracked the case, and have now tracked down the whereabouts of the idol.
Acting on the cops' inputs, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local police took custody of the Kannappa Nayanar idol in March. Legal procedures to retrieve the idol are underway.
"We estimate this to be worth between Rs 6 and 8 crore and will get to know more about it once we get custody," Kalapana Nayak, Additional Director-General with the Idol Wing, told NDTV.
On challenges in retrieving the idol, she said, "It was difficult to trace since it has been 15 years since it was stolen. But we worked quickly when we found out it was in the Netherlands."
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