Stolen Mahavir idol recovered

The Bihar police on Sunday recovered the stolen 2,600-year-old Lord Mahavir statue from Bichway village in Jamui district. While everybody, particularly the Jain community lauded the efforts of the Bihar police, the police department said it was an outcome of a “well-coordinated investigation which led to the recovery of the stolen idol within a span of just eight days”.

According to Jamui SP Jayant Kant, they recovered “the stolen idol from a ditch near the Jamui-Sikandra highway in the morning”.

Police sources said a massive manhunt was launched immediately after the idol was reported as stolen. “We had launched a massive manhunt within the district and monitored every movement,” he said.

Sources said the police had picked up five persons in this connection and interrogated them which led to the early recovery of the idol.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had earlier recommended a CBI inquiry into the matter, on Sunday congratulated the state police and said, “Strict and alert policing led to the recovery of the stolen statue.”

According to Bihar police officials, they are still in the middle of the investigation and efforts are on to “nab gangs involved in idol theft”.

The theft had led to unrest within the Jain community and they had even threatened to launch a massive nationwide agitation. Mr Kumar had last week assured the community of early recovery of the idol.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who had earlier showed his concern over the issue and had telephoned the chief minister to enquire about the matter, congratulated the state government and the Bihar police on Sunday for “swift action” and early recovery. The home minister in his tweet said, “Happy to know that the ancient idol of Lord Mahavir, stolen nearly a week ago in Bihar, has been recovered. The Bihar police has done a good job.”