ONGOLE: Markapuram district police on Monday arrested two habitual offenders involved in a series of house burglaries and temple thefts in various police station limits and recovered gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh along with Rs 20,000 cash from their possession.
The accused were identified as Bhupani Sai (23), a resident of Jaggambhotla Krishnapuram village in Bestavaripeta mandal, and Chinna Saida Rao of Cumbum.
Markapuram DSP U Nagaraju, along with Cumbum Circle Inspector K Mallikarjuna, Sub-Inspector A Sivakrishna Reddy and police personnel, addressed a press conference at the Cumbum Circle Inspector’s office and disclosed details of the arrests and recovery.
Police said the operation was carried out under the directions of Superintendent of Police V Harsha Vardhan Raju and the supervision of DSP Nagaraju.
As part of the investigation, the Cumbum CI and SI, along with their teams, launched an extensive search operation to trace Bhupani Sai, who was allegedly involved in several house-breaking and temple theft cases in Cumbum and Ardhaveedu mandals.
Police said Bhupani Sai, an eighth-class school dropout, became addicted to bad habits and allegedly turned to thefts from December 2021 to meet his expenses and lifestyle needs.
Investigators said he committed several house and temple thefts in villages under the limits of Cumbum and Ardhaveedu police stations. A total of five cases were registered against him in the two police station limits.
On Monday morning, the Cumbum SI and his team arrested Bhupani Sai near Ankalamma Temple close to the village water tank road in Cumbum. Police recovered around 20 grams of gold jewellery, 25 tulas of silver ornaments and Rs 20,000 cash from his possession.
In a separate case, police arrested Chinna Saida Rao in house theft reported in Ganesh Nagar area of Cumbum.