THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala police have arrested three persons from Haryana, including an Australian citizen of Indian origin, for allegedly stealing a brass bowl used for preparing 'Nivedyam' at the Sreepadmanabhaswamy temple here.
The Australian citizen has been identified as Ganesh Jha. The two others nabbed along with him were women.
The theft took place on October 13 in a high-security area guarded by a battery of policemen. The temple officials filed a police complaint on October 15. The culprits were identified from the CCTV visuals obtained from the temple.
Their identities came to be known after cross-checking the documents provided by the accused at the hotel where they had stayed.
According to the police, after the theft, the accused had first left for Udupi in Karnataka and then to Haryana. The accused will be brought back to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the accused told the Haryana police that a temple staff handed over the brassware to them.