CHENNAI: A 75-year-old temple priest was detained by the Tamil Nadu police department's idol wing for stealing two metal idols in Nenmeni village near Sirkazhi. Shri Pradoshanayagar and Shri Pradoshanayagi are the idols.

The suspect, N. Satiyamoorthy, hid the idols at the Sri Visalakshi Viswanathar temple in Nenmeni, where he worked as a priest, according to police. He was going to sell these idols for crores of rupees, according to the sleuths, and was in talks with potential buyers.

During an investigation into the disappearance of four idols from Shri Nallakathayi Temple in Mannankoil four decades ago, a police team lead by ADSP P. Rajaram and his team came upon the priest and detained him on Wednesday. Shri Nallakathayi, Shri Kanjamaleeswarar, Shri Vinayaka, and Shri Anjaneyar were the idols.

Suryamoorthy and his father Natesan had been working with a few temples in Sirkazhi and had taken several idols home under the guise of keeping them safe, according to ADSP R. Rajaram. Suryamoorthy had returned some of the statues to the temple when Natesan died in 2003.

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