The theft of a 2,600-year-old diamond-encrusted ashtadhatu idol of Bhagwan Mahavir from an ancient Digambar Jain temple at Lachhuar village in Jamui district last Friday has spurred the police into action.

Director-general of police (DGP) P.K. Thakur said additional DG, criminal investigation department (CID), Alok Raj has been asked to coordinate with the district cops in the case. Bhagalpur zone inspector-general B.S. Meena has been asked to camp at the site till the idol is recovered. Police suspect the involvement of a Jharkhand-based gang.

The incident has left Jain devotees aghast and even prompted home minister Rajnath Singh to call up chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday. Nitish reportedly briefed Rajnath on the incident and assured him that police investigations were on to recover the statue.

"Nandibardhan, the elder brother of Mahavir, is considered to have built the 37-inch-tall idol in meditation posture weighing 500kg during Mahavir's lifetime. Apart from high antique value, it is worth several crores of rupees in the international market," said Pradeep Jain, the secretary of Bihar Pradesh Jain Society.

Superintendent of police (SP) Jayant Kant said: "A massive search operation has been launched with the help of the CRPF and borders of the districts have been sealed."