The 12 of the 20 idols that were stolen from the Jain temple in Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada district on July 5 have been recovered in an strange manner. The idols sent by speed post from Odisha were received at the Mangalore city police commissioner’s office here on Tuesday evening.
According to police sources, the 12 idols were sent from Bhubaneshwar post office on November 2 and parcel was addressed to the Mangalore police commissioner.
Moodbidri Jain basadi pontiff Bhattaraka Charukeerthi Swamiji is said to have examined the idols and confirmed that they were the original ones and belonged to Siddantha Mandir of Guru Basadi in Moodbidri.
As many as 20 idols were stolen from the Basadi, of which the police had recovered three while five had been melted by the culprits.
The prime accused in the theft case, Santosh alias Ghanshyam Das, was arrested at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh in a joint operation by the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha police a few weeks ago. Subsequently, his father-in-law Digambar Mohanty and wife Deepti Mohanty too were arrested.
The stolen idols include three Theerthankara statues embedded with sapphire; three statues embedded with emerald, sapphire and crystal; a Gomateshwara statue in sitting posture embedded with pearl; a golden mantapa and idols embedded with Ruby.