Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID wrote to US-based Museum and an auction company claiming its ownership of two idols that were stolen over 50 years ago from Vishwanatha Swamy Temple at Alathur Thiruvarur District.
A tweet on ANI said, "Tamil Nadu govt's Idol Wing has prepared & submitted papers to a US-based Museum and an auction company claiming its ownership of 2 idols that were stolen over 50 years ago from Vishwanatha Swamy Temple, Alathur Thiruvarur District."
"Papers submitted for repatriation of the same to TN," it said.
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The robbery came to light after Idol Wing officials found the three missing idols at LACMA Museum, Los Angeles.
Following this, the French Institute shared the image of the idol. With the help of the image, special teams were formed to trace the idol, said a report on PTI.
After a thorough check, the department found 'Somaskandar' idol on Freer Sackler Museum in Washington DC and 'Dancing Sambandar' on Christies.com.
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"Based on the findings of the investigation, the idol wing has prepared and submitted papers claiming the Tamil Nadu governments’ ownership of the idols for onward transmission to the United States of America for repatriation of the same to Tamil Nadu”, the release said, as per PTI.
The department hopes to retrieve the idols and restore them to the Arulmigu Vishwanatha Swamy Temple, Alathur, in Mannargudi, Thiruvarur district under the UNESCO treaty soon.
(With agency inputs)