After recovery of five idols, including that of Lord Raghunathji, the presiding deity of Kullu Valley, the Himachal Pradesh Police will now seek deportation of main accused Nar Prasad Jaisi.
Officials said the task is difficult as India has no extradition treaty with Nepal but being a friendly country "we are hopeful of bringing the main accused to Himachal".
The ancient idol of Lord Raghunathji and four other idols were recovered by the police yesterday and its main accused was held in Nepal in a joint operation by a team of Himachal Pradesh, Nepal and Delhi Police.
"The sensitive case has been solved and we are now seeking deportation of main accused, Nar Prasad Jaisi," Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar today said.
"We would approach the government of Nepal and other central agencies for deportation of Nar Prasad Jaisi from Nepal.
"Our main focus was on recovery of the idols as the faith and lives of people of Kullu revolve around Lord Raghunathji but now we would concentrate on the accused who single- handedly committed the crime...", he added.
The police got the clue from the CCTV footage and the accused was seen in the temple area for four days and he committed the crime after thorough survey of the temple but he had to hide the idols in Kullu as the entire area was cordoned and it was very difficult to dodge the police at the checkpost.
The ADGP (Law and Order), Sanjay Kundu, who guided and supervised the investigations told that the accused was traced by tracking his cell phone and even after changing the SIM card after entering Nepal, the police could track him and he was nabbed there.
During investigations on January 22, he tried to bluff the police that he had sold three idols to a Buddhist monk but on persistent questioning he confessed to the crime and idols were recovered from two places at Bajaura and Beasa Mor.
The idol of Ragunathji which was supposed to be thousands of years old was brought to Kullu from Ayodhya in 16th century and was installed in Raghunathji temple at Sultanpur in Rupi Palace of Raja of Kullu.
The idols were stolen on the intervening night of December 9 and 10 last year.
