SHIVAMOGGA: The Sagar rural police have arrested three persons from Madhya Pradesh and recovered stolen areca nut worth Rs 1.17 crore from them. The accused stole areca nut from a godown at Balasagodu village in Sagar taluk on October 20.
The police said that the accused had stolen 24,500 kg of areca nut kept in 350 bags and sent the product to Ahmedabad in Gujarat. A police team was formed under ASP Rohan Jagadish, and led by Sagar rural police inspector V Praveen Kumar, to nab the accused.
The investigation led the team to Maharashtra’s Solapur, Kolhapur, Pune, Mumbai and Dhule, Gujarat’s Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara, and Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Khajrana, Ujjain and Rajgarh. Finally, the team arrested Rajak Khan alias Saleem Khan (65), a resident of Indore, Theju Singh (42), a resident of Ghatabilod district and Anees Abbasi (55), a resident of Shahajapur in MP, near a dhaba on a bypass road in Shahajapur after 22 days.
The police recovered arecanut worth Rs 1.17 crore and a truck valued at Rs 25 lakh from them. The police said the accused were also wanted by MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan police. The accused have been remanded in judicial custody. Superintendent of Police Mithun Kumar GK has announced a reward for the team.