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Status of CasesCASE STATUS
Click here to view the important
cases in which idols smuggled to foreign countries
Bursting of
international racket – Smuggling of Antiques from Ariyalur to America
Idols belong to
the period of 11th Century
One
Subash Kapoor, the recent king pin of the international racket of
transporting of Antiques, placed his head quarters at New York, USA.
Kapoor was born in New Delhi, settled in New York with USA passport. He
runs one private museum, ‘Art of the Past’ and another export company
‘Nimbus import inc’ at New York. He has contacts in India, Pakistan,
Dubai, Hong Kong, Afganistan, Bangladesh, Indoneshia, Combodia and
Bangkok. Kapoor uses a wide network of collections, museum curators and
dealers to ship and sell Antique Art works with fake documents. He used
to visit Tamil Nadu whenever he came to India. On 30.09.2005, Kapoor
visited Chennai, stayed at Taj Connemara and met one Sanjivi Asokan.
Sanjivi Asokan, a Native of Kerala, settled at Chennai being an Art
dealer knows the topography of all the Antique temples and idol offenders
of Tamil Nadu. He used to read the area maps and the books like South
Indian idols. Kapoor asked Asokan for Antique metal idols belongs to Chola
Era as they make huge demand among international Art collecters. Asokan
agreed and was paid an advance.
Then
Sanjivi Asokan fixed the Sivan temple at Sree Puranthan Village in
Ariyalur District which was in ruined condition and locked more than 10
years without any worship. Then he hired the local idol offenders
Rathinam and Kaliaperumal of Udaiyarpalayam through a local art merchant
Siva Kumar. During the month of January, 2006, on one night Rathinam and
Kaliaperumal entered in to the Sivan temple, break opened the lock and
took away three Antique idols out of the eight idols kept in the temple.
They joined the lever of the broken lock with the adhesive solution and
made the lock to appear as a locked one. Next day Sanjivi Asokan picked up
the three idols and paid them 2 lakhs.
Sanjivi Asokan purchased some new metal idols similar to the
stolen three idols. After mingling both new and stolen idols and managed
to get handicraft certificate from Asst.Director, Handicraft Development
office Ministry of Textiles at Chennai which certified that those idols
to be exported were Artistic Handicraft products. Then he made illicit
export of those idols through an export company ‘Ever Star international
Services inc’ belongs to one Packiakumar, assistant of Sanjivi Asokan.
The stolen idols were exported to one Nimbus imports, Exports inc at New
York as directed by Subash Kapoor on 30.01.2006 from Chennai harbour.
Again Rathinam and Kaliaperumal enterd in to the same Sivan temple
by the same metod on may, 2006 and picked-up another three Antique idols
and handed over to Sanjivi for a gain of two lakhs. Using the same
unconventional method, Sanjivi managed to export those Antique idols to
Subash Kapoor of USA on 12.05.2006 and 28.07.2006 in two batches from
Chennai harbour.
Some time later, as the big Natarajar idol (3 ½) of remaining two
idols in the Sivan temple was huge one, Sanjivi fixed one Pitchaimani of
Rajapalayam to complete the work. Pitchaimani finished the job with the
assistance of Rathinam, Kaliaperumal along with new others and took away
the Natarajar and Vishnu idols in a lorry belongs to one Albert and
handed over to Sanjivi at Chennai for a gain of Rs.3 lakhs. By the same
way, Lord Nataraja and Vishnu were send off to USA in the same way on
25.11.2006 from Chennai harbour by Sanjivi. For this illicit export of
cultural Heritages of Tamil Nadu, Sanjivi was paid dollars equal to an
amount of Rs.1,16,37,694/- from Kapoor’s account in HSBC Bank, New York.
No
body in Sree Puranthan village noticed this incident. One fine morning
after two years over, on 14.06.2008, HR & CE officials visited the
Sivan temple to shift the Antique idols to nearest icon centre as they
did in other temples directed by Government to safe guard the Antiques.
But the villages restrained their process and promised to safeguard the
idols by providing a new grill gate. After the grill gate was ready, on
18.08.2008, HR & CE officers, local police and the villagers tried to
open the lock and found the lock was broken. Idols were stolen away. A
case was registered in Vikramangalam PS Cr.No.133/08 u/s 380(1) IPC on
the complaint of the Executive officer, HR & CE of the Pragadeeswarar
templeAt this juncture, based on their routine course of information
network, Idol Wing-CID managed to secure Rathinam and Kaliaperumal of
Udaiyarpalayam at Chennai on 24.08.2008 while they came to meet Sanjivi
Asokan to sale one Amman idol. A case was registered in Idol Wing CID Cr.No.12/08
u/s 41(d) & 102 CrPC. Further investigation spilled the beans of
international story of Antiques traveled from Ariyalur to America. Due to
the international ramification, Vikramangalam case in Cr.No.133/08 was
transferred to Idol Wing CID on 03.11.2008. Sanjivi ASokan and his export
agent Packiakumar were arrested at Cochin on 25.03.2009. Subsequently the
remaining accused Sivakumar, Pitchaimani, Arunachalam,
Sriram,Kandasamy,Marisamy and Albert Immanuel were arrested. Qualis car
belongs to Sanjivi and lorry belongs to Albert were recovered. Sanjivi
was detained under TN.Act 14 of 1982. On tremendous efforts, Idol Wing
collected the relevant document, evidence from Handicraft depot,
shipping bills of Customs, courier receipts and bank documents for money
transaction. Efforts are being taken through CBI-Interpol to recover all
the eight stolen idols from New York. J.M court, Jeyamkondam issued
Non-bailable warrant against Subash Kapoor of New York. The same is sent
to Interpol for issue of red alert notice against Kapoor and for
execution of the same.
Smuggling
of 12th Century antique Natarajar and other Idols to Hong Kong (2008)
Antique idols
belongs to 12th Century.
The arrest
of Sanjeevi Ashokan in the Vikramangalam case exposed the criminal
network in smuggling of antique idols out of our country. Sanjeevi Ashokan
used to select Chola period temples, which were in ruins, for committing
theft of antique idols, as theft in such temples would not be known soon
after the crime. For identifying temples to commit the crime, he used to
refer to books such as South Indian Bronzes, Master pieces of Indian
Sculptures and Survey Maps. As discussed in the case of idol theft at
Pragadheeawarar temple in Sripuranthan, Sanjivi Asokan has network with
Subash Kapoor of USA. After receiving an advance amount, Sanjivi Asokan searched
his next ruined temple in Art Craft books and maps. Sanjivi very easily
located his next target in the Chola region. As the Chola period
Sundareswarar Temple at Suthamalli Village in Ariyalur district was in a
dilapidated condition, the HR & CE officials shifted the antique
idols from Sundareswarar Temple to the nearest Varadharaja Perumal Temple
in the same village. But this temple was also in a dilapidated condition
and worships used to be conducted once in 3 or 4 months. After
ascertaining these facts, Sanjeevi Ashokan identified this temple to one
Marisamy of Rajapalayam who was running antique shops at Rajapalayam and
Pondicherry. Thereafter, Marisamy and his associates Pitchaimani, Sriram
and Parthiban committed theft of 18 antique idols from Varadharaja
Perumal Temple at Suthamalli on two days during February 2008. After the
theft, Marisamy transported these idols in a lorry to Chennai and handed
over 10 idols to Sanjeevi Ashokan, for which Marisamy had received Rs. 25
lakhs. Marisamy disposed the remaining 8 antique idols to an unknown
foreigner through his antique shop at Pondicherry.
Sanjeevi
Ashokan, as mentioned earlier, obtained export handicraft certificates by
mingling new idols along with stolen antique idols and exported ten stolen
antique idols received from Marisamy through Chennai Port on March 6,
2008 to one Union Link Int. Movers (HK) Ink at Hong Kong. Sanjeevi
Ashokan was paid an amount of Rs.1,01,10,418/- by Subash Kapoor through
HSBC bank towards the cost of export of ten antique idols.
The theft
of 18 antique idols from Varadharaja Perumal Temple at Suthamalli came to
light only after two months of the occurrence when the temple priest opened
the doors of the temple on April 14, 2008 to perform Tamil New Year
Pooja. By that time, ten antique idols of the temple had reached Hong
Kong. A case was registered in Udayarpalayam Police Station Cr.No. 65/08
u/s 457, 380 IPC on April 14, 2008. Later, the case was transferred to
Idol Wing CID on June 12, 2009.
Present Stage of
the Case :
There
were two temple burglaries in Sripuranthan Village and Suthamally Village
during 2006 and 2008 which 28 antique idols of Hindu Deities of
immeasurable value were stolen and subsequently smuggled out of India and
illegally exported to USA. These two specially grave burglaries are
revealed to be an offshoot of a common criminal conspiracy hatched during
2006 at Taj Connemara 5 Star Hotel, Chennai, Tamil Nadu State.
The
case in Vikkramangalam Police Station Crime Number 133/2008 was
registered on 22.08.2008 under section 380(2) Indian Penal Code and was
transferred to Idol Wing-Criminal Investigation Wing, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, India for investigation. The brief of the case is that 8 antique
idols of Hindu deities belonging to Chola Period of 11th – 12th Century A.D. were burgled from Prahatheeshwarar Temple, Sripuranthan
Village prior to 22.08.2008 by a gang of professional burglars in
furtherance of a common criminal conspiracy between Subash Chandra Kapoor
and Sanjivi Ashokan, Marichamy, Pitchaimani. All the 8 burgled idols were
subsequenttly illegally exported during 2006 through four shipments by
Sanjivi Ashokan, Packiakumar, Pitchaimani from Chennai Sea Port to
M/s.Nimbus Import Export Inc., New York owned by Subash Chandra Kapoor.
Sanjivi Ashokan in league with Packiakumar and Pitchaimani fabricated
false documents and procured similar looking metal idols and illegally
exported to Subash Chandra Kapoor at New York.
Extradition
proceedings were initiated and Subash Chandra Kapoor arrested by German
Police was brought back to India and produced before the Hon’ble Court
and remanded to Judicial Custody and he is presently lodged in Central
Prison, Puzhal, Chennai.
The
case in Udayarpalayam Police Station Crime Number 65/2008 was registered
on 14.04.2008 under section 457(2), 380(2) Indian Penal Code and was
transferred to Idol Wing-Criminal Investigation Department, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, India for investigation. The brief of the case is that 20
antique idols of Hindu deities belonging to Chola Period of 11th – 12th Century A.D. were burgled prior to 14.04.2008 from
Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Suthamally Village by seven members of the
same gang. Subsequently the accused Sanjivi Ashokan, Marichamy,
Pitchaimani using the same Modus Operandi, illegally exported 19 antique
bronze idols during 2008 from Chennai Sea Port to Subash Chandra Kapoor
at New York via Hong Kong and London.
On receipt of 27 antique idols at New
York, Subash Chandra Kapoor had sold some of these antique idols and some
of them are still in his ‘Art of the Past’ gallery and ‘Sophia
Self Storage’ in New York in USA. Some of these idols were found to
have been sold to various museums and art collectors in USA, Brussels,
Singapore and Australia.
Letter
Rogatories have been sent to the competent authorities in USA and
Australia for examine the witnesses and recovery of the burgled idols.
The action taken report from USA and Australia are awaited.
Charge
Sheet has been filed in Udayarpalayam P.S. Cr.No.65/2008 on 10.10.2012
before the Hon’ble Judicial Magistrate, Jayankondam and was taken on file
in C.C.No.320/2012. The trial is yet to commence. Charge sheet in the
other case in Vikkramangalam P.S. Cr.No.133/2008 will be filed shortly
and trial commence after receiving consent of the Government of Republic
of Germany.
Busting
of inter-district gang involved in idol thefts (2010)
A
number of inter-district idol theft cases of 2007, which were closed as
undetected by local police, were solved by the Idol Wing CID. Working on
a tip off, the special team secured one Immanuvel @ Sasikumar, aged 37,
of Pallur near Arakkonam along with two of his associates, namely
Pitchaimani and Madasamy from a lodge at Periamedu, Chennai in Idol Wing
CID Cr.No. 01/2010 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.P.C on January 30, 2010 and
recovered one Krishnar Idol from them. Interrogation of these three
persons revealed that Immanuvel, who was Rev. Father in a church,
was organizing idol thefts from abandoned temples with the help of
one Siva and Selvam of Kancheepuram and also with the assistance of one
Jeganathan and Velu of his native village Pallur. With the help of one
street vender Madasamy, the said Immanuvel came in touch with one
Marisamy of Pondicherry and Pitchaimani of Rajapalayam, who were dealing
with stolen idols. Interrogation of Immanuvel further revealed that after
he had identified abandoned temples, his associates had committed thefts
of four antique idols from one Bajanai Temple at Eralacherry in Vellore
District (a case in Kaveripakkam P.S. Cr.No.27/07 u/s 457, 380 IPC was
registered on January 24, 2007) five antique idols from Jain Temple
at Esakulathur in Thiruvannamalai district (a case in Thesur P.S.
Cr.No.79/07 u/s 457, 380 IPC was registered on November 28, 2007), five
idols from Perumal Temple at Nerumbur in Kancheepuram district (a case in
Thirukazhukundram P.S. Cr.No.96/08 u/s 457, 380 IPC was registered on
March 10, 2008) and two idols from Lakshmi Narayanan Temple at
Sithudaiyur in Ariyalur district (a case in Kuvagam P.S. Cr.No.13/07 u/s
457, 380 IPC was registered on February 25, 2007). All the associates of
Immanuvel concerned in these four idol theft cases were arrested and
recovered ten idols. The said four idol theft cases which were closed
earlier as undetected by the local police, were reopened for further
investigation by the districts concerned.
Recovery of 100 years old stolen Maragathalingam (1992)
While
Investing the theft of Maragathalingam from Piravi Maruntheeswarar temple
at Thiruthuraipoondi, Thiruvarur District, the investigating team had the
rare good luck to recover another Maragathalingam, weighing nearly 201
gms and arrest Devasenathipathy of Thiruvennainallur, Karthikeyan and
Velmurugan of Villupuram District at Villupuram Bus stand on December 6,
2009 in Idol Wing CID Cr.No.10/2009 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.P.C.
Investigation disclosed that the said Maragathalingam was stolen
from Thiyagarajaswamy temple at Thirukkaravasal in Thiruvarur District
during 1992 for which a case was registered on August 8, 1992 in Valivalam
Police Station Cr.No. 339/1992 u/s 454 and 380 IPC, which was later
transferred to Idol Wing CID for further investigation on November 11,
1994 by the DGP. However, the case was closed as undetected in November
25, 1999. The temple officials and the donor family were examined during
investigation to identify the seized Maragathalingam and they confirmed
Thiyagarajaswamy temple at Thirukkaravasal in Thiruvaru District during
1992, by identifying certain specific marks on this idol. This
Maragathalingam was handed over to the Executive Officer of
Thiyagarajaswamy temple at Thirukkaravasal in Thiruvaru District on
December 14, 2009 by the Court of Judicial Magistrate I, Villupuram for
conducting Poojas. Accordingly the Maragathalingam was installed in the
temple for worship. This case is under investigation to trace the other
accused involved in theft of Maragathalingam from Thiyagarajaswamy temple
at Thirukkaravasal in Thiruvarur District. All the three accused arrested
in this case were released on bail.
Tracing
of stolen Vidankar from Thiruthuraipoondi (2009)
Kulothunga Cholan, the second Chola King, was the
architect of Piravi Maruntheeswarar temple at Thiruthuraipoondi in
Thiruvarur District. The special attraction of the temple is “Vidankar”,
which means the Maragathalingam. The said Maragathalingam from Piravi
Maruntheeswarar temple was stolen on February 19, 2009 by cutting the
iron window grills of the temple and a case was registered in
Thiruthuraipoondi PS. Cr.No.70/2009 u/s 457, 380 IPC. The said occurrence
created lot of unrest a month Hindu pilgrims and devotees. In a decoy
deployed by IDOL Wing CID under the guise of a Bangalore merchant to buy
antique artifact, the special team thus formed secured one Ramesh of Pattukkottai
and Senthil of Valangaiman on October 25, 2009 at Koyambedu and recovered
one Maragathalingam weighing 990 gms from them in IDOL Wing CID
Cr.No.08/2009 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.P.C. Investigation disclosed that
the recovered Maragathalingam was the one stolen from Piravi
Maruntheeswarar temple of Thiruthuraipoondi. The interrogation of these
two accused revealed that they had conspired to commit theft of the
Maragathalingam of Piravi Maruntheeswarar temple along with Needur Viji
while they were in the Central Prison, Trichy and that the idea was
mooted by an idol theft offender Vaithialingam of Vedharanyam, who
promised to sell the lingam for Rs. 50 Crores. After release form the
prison, Needur Viji managed to find a gang lead by Merlin to commit theft
of the lingam for which an advance of Rs. 2.5 lakhs was paid. Before
executing the crime, the gang made several visits to the temple. After
commission of the crime, the lingam was kept in an empty gas cylinder and
buried near the house of Merlin for some time and later, it came to the
hands of Ramesh and Needur Viji for sale. The gang used 13 sim cards,
which were obtained by furnishing fake photographs and ration cards to
avoid detection. All the accused concerned in this crime have been
arrested. As per the Court order, the Maragathalingam was handed over to
Piravi Maruntheeswarar Temple for conducting Pooja. This case was
transferred to Thiruthuraipoondi P.S. on 19.01.2010
HER TRIAL CASES.
On 4.12.2004, Prathosa Nayagi Amman Metal Idol and Sivalingabanam Stone Idol were stolen from Arulmigu Maragathajaleshwarar Temple, Thiruvenkoilmalai at Thottiyam, Trichy District. The case is Detected and 5 accused namely 1.Rajasekar, 2.Rajendran, 3.Sankar, 4Karnan, 5.Paulraj.were arrested from Thottiyam and the properties were recovered.
On
19.06.2005, 13 Metal Idols were stolen from Arulmigu Narumpoonathar
Temple at Palavoor, Tirunelveli District. Two accused Shajahan &
Arunachalam of Madurai were arrested. Five Metal Idols viz., Sri
Subramaniyar, Sivagami Amman, Veiyal Katha Amman, Sri Krishnar &
Sri Astthiradevar were recovered. Subsequently other four accused
Saudi Murugan, Balaji, Mohan, and Dinahar were arrested. And another
four idols were recovered.
Sri Krishnar
On 28.02.2006, One Vishnu Stone Idol
was recovered and the accused Balamurgan was arrested. The Idol was
declared as Antique belonging to 13th century by the Archaeology
Department. The case was charged and pending trial before Addl.
CMM Court at Egmore, Chennai.
Vishnu Stone Idol
4.
Idol
Theft Offenders Booked Under GOONDA'S Act :
(Idols smuggled to New York - yet
to be recovered by Idol Wing CID)
Chandrasekar Manikavasagar
Natarajar and Sivagami
Somaskanthar Amman Thani Amman
Vinayagar Thirugnanasambanthar
CASES DETECTED
DURING THE YEAR 2012 AND 2013:
1.Cr.No. 1/2012 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.PC ,380 IPC
This case was
detected on 29.12.2010 at Koraty
Village, Udayanatha Eswarn Temple and recovered three stone idols
namely 1) Murugan Stone Idols 2) Devi Stone Idols 3) Sandigeswarar
Stone Idols and arrested 4
accused namely 1) Sathish@Sathishkumar S/o Selvaraj, Visalam St, Karaikudi, Sivagangai Dt 2) Siva @
Sivakumar S/o Primanayagam,
Gandhipuram, VOC Road, karaikudi, Sivagangai Dt 3) Vellalaichamy S/o
Samayan, Konkarathy Village, Kandaramanicam post, Thirupattur Tk,
Sivagangai Dt 4) Muthukumar S/o Sapapathy, Gandhipuram, V.O.C. Road, Karaikudi,
Sivagangai Dt. The case was charged and pending trial
2.Cr.No. 2/2012 u/s 457(2), 380(2), 411, 414 r/w 34 & 109 IPC
This case was
detected on 01.03.2012 at P.H.Road,
Chennai and one Vishnu Metal Idol was recovered from five accused were arrested namely 1)
Jamuna D/o Veerasamy vellalar 2)
Dilli Babu S/o Jayaraman Naidu 3) Jalees Rahman S/o Mohamad Ali 4) Gopal 5) Murugesan. Now This case was charged on 04.03.2013
and pending trial. The origin of the metal idol is to be
deciphered.
3. Cr.No. 3/2012 u/s 447, 380 (2) 120 (B) 201 IPC:
This case was
detected on 20.5.2012 at Devakottai while enquiring one Balakumaran of Vedaranyam, Gopal, Kannan and the 4 metal idols of Boo Devi, Seethevi and Mahavishnu
and Veena dhara Sivan idol while smuggling the idols in a
Tata Sumo car TN 55 AA 7337 at Devakottai main road. The case was charged and pending in
the Srivilliputhur court
4. Cr.No./ 4/2012 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.Pc @ 457(2), 380(2), 411
r/w 34 IPC
This case was detected on 17.11.2012 at 11.30Hrs at Near Orathanadu Bus Stand, Tanjore Dt and recovered one Metal Amman Idol from the accused. The two accused 1) Kotteswaran M/a30 S/o Nagaraj 2) Rajasekar M/a 40 S/o Natarajan were arrested and remanded on 17.11.2012. Now this case was charged on 04.02.2013 and pending trial in the court.
1.Cr.No. 1/2013 u/s 419d) & 102 Cr.PC
This case was
detected on 16.02.2013 at Kumbakonam Chetty Mandabam Bus Stand and
recovered one Metal Amman Idol and perumal Amman Idol from the accused one Inbaraj and
three others.
Perumal Amman
2.Cr.No. 2/2013 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.PC
This case was
detected on 17.02.2013 and recovered one metal Valli Idol from the
accused Senthil and two others . This case is under investigation.
Valli
3.Cr.No. 3/2013 u/s 41(d) & 102 Cr.PC
This case was
detected on 21.02.2013 at Koyambedu Bus Terminal, Chennai Corporation park and
recovered one metal Natarajar idol from the accused Bharthi and based
on his confession recovered two temple Kopura Metal kalasams from the accused Kamaraj
from his house at Porur. On
21.02.2013 4 accused namely 1) Bharathy m/a 32 S/o veeraragavan 2)
kamaraj M/a 35 S/o Narayanan 3) basher M/a 47 S/o Syed Mohamad 4)
Ramakrishnan were arrested. This
case is under investigation to
decipher the origin of the idol recovered.
Natarajar Kalasam
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