After handing over of the idols, a brief ceremony was held over Zoom.Three fifteenth century idols of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Lord Lakshman - stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu in 1978 - were handed over to the High Commission of India in London on September 15 by a London-based art dealer who chose to remain anonymous.After handing over of the idols, a brief ceremony was held over Zoom with the participation of Hon'ble MoS (IC) for Culture, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, High Commissioner of India, Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, Director General of ASI and senior officers of the Metropolitan Police.The complete set of four idols - Lord Ram, Goddess Sita, Lord Lakshman and Lord Hanuman - was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu in 1978.
Information was received from India Pride Project that the stolen idol of Lord Ram is in London and that the Lord Hanuman idol is in Singapore.
More information was gathered from Tamil Nadu Police and passed on to the London Met Police.
Our High Commission in Singapore was also requested to pursue the matter regarding return of Hanuman idol back to India.On the basis of our information, the Met Police was able to reach the London-based art dealer.
Met Police's investigation into the matter established that the art dealer was a 'good faith purchaser' and as per the UK law was under no obligation to return the idols.
However, when approached by the High Commission, he agreed to return stolen Ram idol and along with that the idols of goddess Sita and Lord Lakshman which, by a happy coincidence, happened to be in his possession.