Three idols of Hindu deities were found abandoned inside a coconut sapling pit in a private land at Kunathur under the Manjeswaram police station limits on Monday.

The idols of Lord Siva, Goddess Durga, and Lord Ganesh, along with prabhavalayam (halo around the idols) were found lying in open by a group of children who had gone to the plot, owned by Ibrahim, a resident of Mangalore, to pluck guava this morning, a police official said.

Police informed

The children informed the locals, who in turn, alerted the Manjeswaram police.

Later, a police team, led by Sub-Inspector K. Bijulal, reached the spot and picked the idols from the pit. The idols were now with the police, Mr. Bjiulal said.

It was not immediately clear whether the idols, seemingly made of brass, were stolen from temples nearby, as no cases regarding theft from temples had been registered with the Manjeswaram police station, Mr. Bijulal said.

The police, who registered a case under section 102 of the Cr.PC, alerted their counterparts in Mangalore where a temple theft case had been registered the other day.

As part of the investigation, services of fingerprint experts had been sought to study the idols in detail.