TVS group chairman moves Madras HC for anticipatory bail in idol theft case

Tamil Nadu: TVS Motor Company's chairman Venu Srinivasan today moved the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with an idol theft case.

In his bail application, Srinivasan cited a writ plea filed by advocate Elephant G Rajendran which refers to the FIR against him.

Srinivasan said he too understood that an FIR was registered by the Mylapore police and it was later transferred to the CB-CID Idol Wing.

The FIR against the industrialist alleges that he replaced an antique peacock idol with a new one at the Sri Kapaleeswarar temple here and it was registered on the complaint from a devotee Rangarajan Narasimhan, Rajendran told PTI.

Asserting that he was innocent, Srinivasan submitted that he had spent around Rs 70 lakh in 2004 from his personal fund for painting and flooring work at the Sri Kapaleeswarar temple.

Though he was appointed a member of the government-constituted Temple Renovation Committee that year, the officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department oversaw the renovation work, the industrialist said.

Beyond this, Srinivasan said, he has no other connection with the temple except that he is also a devotee of Lord Kapaleeswarar (Shiva).

He claimed that as the chairman of the board of trustees of Ranganathaswamy Temple at Tiruchirappalli, he spent nearly Rs 25 crore for its renovation in 2015.

A trust funded by him and his company had undertaken renovation work of over 100 temples in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, he submitted.

In view of the serious allegations and the FIR against him, Srinivasan said, he sought anticipatory bail.

The bail application is likely to be taken up for hearing by Justice M Dhandapani tomorrow.