The Madras High Court has ruled that Inspector General (I.G.) of Police, A.G. Pon Manickavel, who attained superannuation on November 30, will continue to serve as “Special Officer” for one year in the Idol Wing CID of Tamil Nadu Police in order to probe all idol theft cases.
A.G. Pon Manickavel.Photo: M. Vedhan
The Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and P.D. Audikesavulu, while acting on a couple of petitions earlier, had quashed the Government Order transferring all pending and future idol theft cases from the Idol Wing to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). As per the court order, Manickavel will continue to head and supervise the Idol Wing even though the State government elevated the post from I.G. rank to Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) rank and appointed Abhay Kumar Singh as his successor.
Reposing total faith in Pon Manickavel, the Madras High Court observed: “We are of the view that the State all along is not inclined to continue with the investigation of idol theft cases as the same were transferred to CBI despite pendency of the stay order of this court.” Ever since the officer took charge of the Idol Wing he has investigated many sensitive cases of antique idols that have been missing or have been stolen from various ancient temples in Tamil Nadu.
The Idol Wing under Pon Manickavel arrested the elusive international idol lifter Subash Kapoor, his accomplice Deenadayalan and a few others in connection with various idol thefts across the State. His investigation even forced some high-profile people in the State to seek advance bail. A few senior bureaucrats from the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department were arrested and raids on the premises of leading industrialists resulted in seizures of ancient idols. All this was achieved in the face of enormous pressure from various quarters that had strong political connections.
On November 27, two days before his retirement, the officer told the court that the State government was attempting to “fix him in some sort of allegation”. Taking his statement on file, the court directed the government not to take any adverse action against him or his team without its permission. The government, unhappy with the I.G.’s performance, had tried to transfer cases of the Idol Wing to the CBI, which however expressed its inability to take up the cases.
In July last year, the court expressed its anguish over the theft of ancient idols and transferred all cases to a court in Kumbakonam and also appointed Manickavel in charge of the investigations reversing the State government’s decision to transfer him to Railways from the Idol Wing.
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