Thanjavur: Officials of the Idol wing CID police have seized a highly valuable antique ‘Maragatha Lingam’ (Shiva Lingam carved out of emerald), worth Rs 500 crore, from a businessman family at Arulananda Nagar in Thanjavur district of the State.
Sources said here that acting on specific information that temple idols were hoarded at a house, the Idol wing police team led by Additional Superintendents of Police, R Rajaram and P Ashok Natarajan conducted inquiries with N S Arun, son of an octogenarian businessman N A Samiyappan.
During the inquiry, the family members confessed to possessing an emerald lingam, which has been kept in a bank locker. However, they were not able to substantiate their claim over the precious lingam with documentary evidence.
The police team confiscated the emerald lingam from the bank locker. A scientific analysis will be carried out to ascertain its antiquity, the sources added. The Idol wing police have registered a case and are investigating.
The emerald lingam could be worth Rs 500 crores and it was suspected that it might have been stolen from the ancient Sri Thiyagaraja Swamy Temple, administered by the Dharmapuram Aadheenam in Thirukkuvalai near Nagapattinam in 2016.
The emerald lingam stolen from the temple was dating back to 1,000 years and is believed to have been brought by King Rajendra Chola from an East Asian country during his reign.