A MEDICAL STUDENT and a computer science under graduate along with a contractor were arrested while selling an age-old ashtadhatu idol Gomti Nagar on Friday.
The idol has been valued at Rs 5 crore in the international market.
The accused have been identified as Yashpal Kumar of Pratap Nagar, a BAMS student studying at a Lucknow College and Anshul Mishra, a postgraduate student of Computer Science at Shia PG College., both of Lakhimpur Kheri and Kavindra Rai alias Sadhu Rai, a native of Ballia and staying here at Habibullah Hostel of Lucknow University (LU).
Station officer (SO) Gomti Nagar Manoj Pant was tipped-off about a gang moving with an astadhatu idol looking for purchasers in the area. Pant formed a team and laid a trap near Polytechnic intersection. Acting on a tip-off, the cops caught three persons and recovered an idol.
The idol, Pant said, was shown to experts who informed that it was related to Vaishnav religion of 17 century. The idol was estimated to Rs 5 crores in the International market.
In the course of interrogation the trio revealed that the leader of the gang was Amit of Hardoi and they were engaged in the trade for last few years. They had struck a deal with a purchaser Rs 15 lakhs
{{/usCountry}}In the course of interrogation the trio revealed that the leader of the gang was Amit of Hardoi and they were engaged in the trade for last few years. They had struck a deal with a purchaser Rs 15 lakhs
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