Two transgender persons were arrested by the Kalavai police on Thursday for stealing a granite idol from a temple in Chenneri village, near Kalavai town, in Ranipet.
Police identified the accused as S. Athira, 21, and S. Vishnu, 19, of Kalavai town. It was around 6 a.m. on November 26 (Sunday) when the residents of Chenneri village, around two kms away from Kalavai town near Arcot, Ranipet, found the main deity of a local Amman temple to be missing.
On information, the police rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry with the residents and the panchayat officials. The 1.5-foot-tall granite idol of the temple has had been worshipped by the residents for more than four decades.
Following investigation, the police on Wednesday nabbed the accused at the Kalavai Koot Road near the town during a routine vehicle check in which the idol was recovered from the duo.
The accused confessed to the crime, and said they stole the idol to translocate it to a temple they were planning to build. The duo said they believed such idols grew in power when kept in a new temple.
Subsequently, the police registered a case. The accused are lodged at the Central Prison in Vellore.
