A checking operation was underway near Deori village when some unidentified persons travelling in a jeep reached there and upon seeing the police from a distance dumped a sack containing the idol on the road and escaped, Civil Lines police station in-charge, Rakesh Gupta, told reporters.
Villagers noticed the sack lying on the roadside and informed the police who recovered the five-feet tall idol from it.
It was revealed during the investigations that the idol was stolen by unidentified thieves on March 17 last year from Sinhpur temple in Shahdol district.
The idol is made of eight-metals having eight hands and 15 'apsaras' in a dancing mode.
Police are further probing the incident. PTI Corr MAS NSK RAI
