GUNTUR: A 11-member gang was busted at Purushothapatnam village in Chilakaluripet mandal on Thursday and nine panchaloha idols worth `1 crore were seized from it.
Disclosing this to newsmen, Circle Inspector B Suresh Babu said K Maria Dasu, R Sankar, G Ankalu and J Kristu Dasu of Guravaiahpalem in Narasaraopet mandal and K Ramesh of Chilakaluripet were involved in theft of idols from temples.
They hid the stolen idols in the forest area near Kotappakonda. Later, they contacted K Anjaneyulu, K Rajaratnam, K Ravindranath, Hamsavath Balaji Naik and M Yesupadam of Chilakaluripet and G Peraiah of Guravaiahpalem to dispose of the stolen idols.
They already visited Chennai and found some prospective buyers who wanted to see the idols before striking a deal.
The police nabbed the gang while it was about to leave to Chennai with the ancient idols. The arrested along with the seized idols were produced in court.
DSP K Nageswara Rao congratulated Circle Inspector Suresh Babu and his team for busting the idol lifters’ gang.