An antique panchaloha idol of Lord Krishna stolen from Anandawalleshwaram Sri Mahadevar Temple here on August 2 was recovered from a house at Pothencode in Thiruvananthapuram district on Tuesday night. The police arrested Sanal Kumar, 40, in connection with the theft.
Briefing the media, City Police Commissioner P. Prakash said the idol was recovered from the suspect’s house. He said Sanal stole the idol weighing 10.5 kg from the temple between 5.30 a.m. and 5.45 a.m. .
His family learnt about it only when the police reached the place. Mr. Prakash said Sanal did not say whether he contacted anyone for selling the idol.
He said Sanal had no history of idol thefts though he had been arrested for petty thefts earlier, most of them committed around temples. He was arrested for two such cases in Kollam and one was a month ago when he was nabbed by devotees at the Mulangadakam temple in the city .
He is at present out on bail in that case. Mr. Prakash said the police would seek his custody for further investigation after producing him in court on Wednesday.
According to temple records, the idol is more than 400 years old.
It originally belonged to a Brahmin household and was later handed over to one of the rulers of Kollam, who in turn installed it at the Puthukulangara Siva temple.
The area later came to be called Anandawalleshwaram after the installation of an idol of goddess Anandawalli at the temple.
