Antique idols of Indian deities worth nearly Rs 40 crore seized in Chennai

Chennai: The Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu Police arrested Javed Shah, a Chennai-based Kashmiri, for possessing an antique idol of Goddess Parvati. Shah was living in the tourist destination Mamallapuram, in the outskirts of Chennai and was running a shop known as ‘Indian Cottage Emporium’ at a private resort. 

On instructions from Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police, Sylendra Babu, searches were conducted on Javed’s premises on 24th December. While cops did not find the Parvati idol which they had been looking for, they seized 11 metal idols, of which eight were declared as antiques. This included idols of Lord Ganesha, Krishna. 

Finally, it was on Tuesday (January 12)  that cops nabbed Javed, along with the Goddess Parvati idol. While Shah will be sent for remand, a probe is underway to trace the origins of the idols and to which temples they belonged.

Tamil Nadu Police seize antique idols worth upto Rs.40cr..
Idols of deities including Parvati found at premises of a kashmiri man Javed Shah, running a shop in Mamallapuram

Probe on to trace the origin, temples where the idols belong #India #idol #crime #Smugglers #Chennai pic.twitter.com/6JVuuqmwjI

— Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) January 11, 2022

According to Sreedharan, an expert who has been associated with the Archaeological Survey of India, the value of the idols is estimated between Rs.30-40 crore or roughly 5.4 million USD.