In a major operation led by CO Rahul Srivastava the city police busted a gang of idol lifters and recovered four costly 'ashtdhatu' idols valued at over Rs 1.5 crore in the international market.
The arrests were made by station officer Cantonment Rajesh Singh and Special Operation Group (SOG) incharge Nagendra Chaube and his team from near the Mazar on Polo Ground on Sunday afternoon.
The arrested persons were identified as Shyam Lal Prajapati resident of Ghatampur under Nawabganj police station, Rahul Kumar resident of Mumfordganj, Lallu Vishwakarma resident of Kaudihar in Nawabganj, Jinsi resident of Nawabganj and Mohd Rizwan resident of Mir Sadar PS Thariyawan in Fatehpur district.
Three idols of Radha, Krishna and Lord Hanuman installed at a temple in 1740 AD in the house of Surendra Pratap Singh and Virendra Kumar Singh in village Gopalpur alias Laludih in Nawabganj had been stolen some time ago.
The idols had been originally placed in the temple by the forefathers of the above two persons one Ram Pratap Singh in 1740 AD at a cost of Rs 25,000. Since that day the Singh family had been celebrating Janmashtami with great pomp and show without any break. This time the Janmashtamai was celebrated despite the theft though with a sullen mood.
The fourth idol of Laxmi had been stolen from somewhere else by another person and had been handed over to Rizwan for sale. The arrested persons were in touch with some buyers who after procuring the idolds from the five persons would have made good money in the international market, said the SSP Vijay Singh Meena but timely interception by the police stalled the attempt of the thieves to send the idols out of the country.
{{/usCountry}}The fourth idol of Laxmi had been stolen from somewhere else by another person and had been handed over to Rizwan for sale. The arrested persons were in touch with some buyers who after procuring the idolds from the five persons would have made good money in the international market, said the SSP Vijay Singh Meena but timely interception by the police stalled the attempt of the thieves to send the idols out of the country.
{{/usCountry}}The operation is being dubbed as a great success by cops who have been rewarded with cash money by the SSP.
Meanwhile, palpable jubilation was witnessed in Gopalpur village as the news of the recovery of the stolen idols was received by the villagers and the family members who run the temple established by their forefathers under a trust.