6-kg metal idol of Lord Nataraja found in Tamil Nadu's Sirungavoor lake

CHENNAI: A six kilo metal idol of Lord Nataraja found in a suburban lake by a local resident while fishing has been handed over to revenue officials, police said on Sunday.

Murali, while angling at the Sirungavoor lake near suburban Red Hills on Saturday, snared a leather bag, which had a one and half foot tall idol of Lord Nataraja, weighing six kilos.

He immediately informed the local police, who handed over the idol to revenue officials.

Police said they could not immediately ascertain ifthe idol was stolen and later dumped in the lake.

V Subramanian, secretary of a voluntary organisation 'Jankalyan,'pointing to theft of idols from temples, told PTI that authorities should come forward to digitise images of all idols for easy identification and restoration in case they were stolen.

"Whenever authorities recover idols, they should hand them over to the nearest temples for puja," he said.