A special team of Mandya district police has arrested two persons from T. Narsipur near Mysuru on charges of stealing gold and silver ornaments from different temples in Mandya, Mysuru, and Ramanagara districts.
The special team had been constituted by Additional Superintendent of Mandya district police C. Thimmaiah the theft of gold and silver ornaments was reported from the Sanctum Santorum of Adi Shakti Kalikamba Temple in Maddur taluk’s Besagarahalli village on September 23.
The complaint lodged at Besagarahalli police station said unidentified persons in the guise of devotees had visited the temple and allegedly committed the theft.
The special team, which took up the investigation, managed to arrest two persons accused of committing the theft at T. Narispur in Mysuru district on October 4.
During interrogation, the police learnt that the accused had committed similar theft at six different temples on a total of seven occasions. The temples targeted by the accused were in the jurisdictions of Arakere, Belakavadi, Besagarahalli, and Malavalli rural police stations in Mandya district, Bannur police station in Mysuru district, and Sathanur police station in Ramanagara district.
The arrest of the duo has solved a total of seven cases of temple theft, said a statement issued by Mandya district police.
The police have also recovered 100 grams of gold ornaments, 4 kg and 100 grams of silver articles, ₹21,000 cash, besides two-wheelers used to commit the crime. The value of recovered items is estimated to be around ₹8.19 lakh, the police said in the statement.
