Four farmers were arrested on Tuesday for stealing a granite idol of Lord Vinayaka from an ancient Murugan temple on the Alangayam - Asanampattu Main Road near Alangayam town.
Police said the suspects, V. Elumalai, 30, G. Prakasam, 50, M. Selvam, 32, and A. Suresh, 32, were marginal farmers in Maruthavallipalayam village near Anaicut in Vellore. The villagers mobilised funds and constructed Samundeeswari Amman temple a few months ago. They organised the consecration of the new temple on August 18 without the idol of Lord Vinayaka due to the belief that only a stolen Vinayaka idol from another temple should be kept in the new temple. They believed that such stolen idols would bring prosperity to the village.
As a result, the four farmers decided to steal a Vinayaka idol from a temple in the vicinity. They targeted an ancient temple on the outskirts of Alangayam town in Tirupattur. They decamped with the idol around 1 a.m. A few youth witnessed the incident and alerted Alangayam police. The farmers were arrested and lodged in the Central Prison, Vellore.
