The police arrested two persons allegedly involved in 13 cases of theft at places of worship and three cases of house break reported in the city in the last four years.
The police gave their names as Naga Naidu, 55, from Tarikere in Chikkamagaluru district, and C.V. Maruti, 33, from Channagiri in Davangere district.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar told reporters that the two accused were arrested by the Central Crime Branch sleuths in connection with theft of gold ornaments worth ₹6.86 lakh from a house in Ashok Nagar in Urwa Police Station limits on November 10.
Investigation revealed their alleged involvement in thefts at Devastanas, Daivastanas, and three houses in Surathkal, Urwa, Bajpe, Panambur, Mulki, Kavoor, and Ullal police limits between 2018 and 2021.
Mr. Kumar said Naidu is an accused in theft cases reported in Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts. Naidu used to travel to Mangaluru by bus, survey potential places in the morning, and carry out thefts in the night.
Naidu reportedly sold stolen articles to Maruti, who in turn, allegedly sold them to a jeweller in Davangere. The police recovered 406 gm of gold articles and 16 kg of silver articles, together worth ₹28.4 lakh, he said.
The Surathkal police arrested Rajan Chinnatambi, 57, of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu and P.B. Pramod from Chandrapura in Bengaluru for their alleged involvement in four house break thefts reported in Kana, Kulai, Hosabettu, and Kadambodi early this year.
Mr. Kumar said police recovered part of stolen articles from Laxmi Kerala Mess in Keerti Layout, Chandapura, owned by Pramod and seized some stolen jewellery reportedly pledged by Pramod in a finance firm.
They also recovered some stolen articles from Chinnatambi’s house in Tiruppur. He is an accused in several theft cases reported from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In all, police recovered 366 gm of gold articles worth ₹16.5 lakh from the accused.
Mr. Kumar lauded the police team comprising of Deputy Commissioners of Police Hariram Shankar and B.P. Dinesh Kumar, Police Inspectors Mahesh Kumar and K. Chandrappa and Police Sub Inspectors B. Rajendra and Chandrashekariah for tracing the accused.
