VIJAYAWADA: NTR district police cracked the sensational temple theft case within 72 hours and arrested three persons, recovering the entire stolen property worth around Rs 15 lakh on Thursday.
The theft was reported at Sri Chennakeshava Swamy Temple in Mutyala village under Chillakallu police station limits. Acting on the directions of NTR district police commissioner SV Rajasekhara Babu, Rural DCP B Lakshmi Narayana and Nandigama ACP Ch Srinivasa Rao supervised the investigation, with Jaggayyapeta inspector Venkateswarlu and his team forming teams.
Police examined CCTV footage from the temple and surrounding areas and identified the suspects as habitual offenders. Their movements showed that they had conducted a recce before committing the theft. Based on the vehicle number and images captured on CCTV cameras, police kept surveillance on the suspects and detained them near Kodad.
Police recovered the stolen property from Sri Chennakeshava Swamy and Rajyalakshmi Ammavari temples, besides the Maruti Suzuki Fronx used in the offence.