An idol of Lord Vishnu has been recovered from the Daudkandi upazila of Cumilla in Bangladesh. The height of the black stone idol is about 23 inches and its width is 9.5 inches and the weight of this idol is 12 kgs.

Ataur Rahman, former regional director of Chattogram divisional archaeology department, said, "The statue is very valuable. It is possibly more than 1,000 years old. It should be immediately handed over to the Mainamati museum for proper preservation."

Faruk Ahmed, a local Union Parishad (UP) member, said, "The statue was found around 45 days back, but a group of people had hidden it. That's why I informed the law enforcers."

Nazrul Islam, officer-in-charge of Daudkandi police station, told IANS, "We recovered the statue from the house of Abu Yusuf, a teacher in Boro Goali village in Daudkandi upazila of Cumilla at 9:30 pm on Monday. Yusuf found the statue one-and-a-half months ago, but he didn't inform the police."

However, Abu Yusuf claimed that he could not inform the police as he was busy. He is the headmaster of Chargoali Khandaker Nazir Uddin Multipurpose School.

"I noticed this statue about 20-22 days ago while digging soil from a pond... We could not inform police as we were busy with work," Yusuf was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

Image source: Daily star