The Madras High Court on Wednesday came down strongly on the Tamil Nadu Government for its alleged failure to provide minimum basic facilities to AG Ponn Manickavel, the former Inspector General of Police who was appointed by the Court as officer on special duty for a period of one year to probe the missing temple idols.
A division bench consisting of Justices R Mahadevan and P D Audikesavalu lambasted the Tamil Nadu Government for closing down the office used by Manickavel in Chennai as the head office of the Idol Wing, Economic Offences Wing, Tamil Nadu Police.
Manickavel had told the court on Tuesday that he has no place to work in Chennai following the shut down of the office from where he was functioning for the last six years. The move by the top honchos of the State Police has paralysed the functioning of Manickavel and his team probing idol thefts from the temples in Tamil Nadu.
There were serious allegations by temple worshippers that the Tamil Nadu Government was trying to clip the wings of the Idol Wing as well as that of Manickavel. “Last year the Tamil Nadu Government had transferred Manickavel to the Railway Police and handed over the investigation of missing idols to the CBI. But both the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court quashed the State Government’s move and reinstated Manickavel as the head of the Idol wing,” said T R Ramesh, president, Temple Worshippers Society.
Manickavel succeeded in solving many cases of idol thefts that has happened in the last five decades. The retrieval of the statues of Raja Raja Chola and his royl consort from a private museum was a moment of crowning glory for him. The statues, more than 1000 years old and commanding millions of rupees for their antique and artistic value were stolen from the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur fifty years ago.
Following his re-employment as officer on special duty, Idol Wing, some of the subordinate staff working in the department met the Tamil Nadu Police Chief with the complaint that Manickavel was forcing them, to arrest innocent persons under fake charges. In an unprecedented move the officers held a press conference and blamed Manickavel for harassing them.