ADILABAD: Nirmal police have arrested three persons in connection with the theft of a silver crown and hundi cash from the Mahankali temple on the Basara temple premises. The accused were intercepted at Basara railway station while allegedly travelling to Maharashtra.
The accused have been identified as Pallapu Yedukondalu of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, involved in about 25 theft cases; Gaini Kiran alias Ramakrishna of Nizamabad district, with around 20 cases; and Kodam Anand of Solapur, Maharashtra, who allegedly handled the stolen property.
Superintendent of Police Dr G Janaki Sharmila said police recovered 1.22 kg of silver crown pieces, 260 grams of silver anklets, Rs 16,000 stolen from the hundi, and a mobile phone.
Acting on specific inputs, police apprehended the trio on July 2, 2026, while they were travelling on the Kacheguda-Nagarsol train. Kodam Anand was allegedly transporting the stolen crown to Nanded.
According to the police, Yedukondalu and Ramakrishna entered the temple on June 22 by scaling a wall, broke open the gate locks, and stole the deity’s silver crown and hundi cash. They later broke the crown into pieces, escaped through the rear of the temple near Vyasa Guha, and escaped by blending in with devotees.
Following the incident, six special teams were formed to trace the accused across Telangana and Maharashtra. Based on technical inputs and intelligence, police tracked and arrested the gang, which is suspected of targeting temples with good railway connectivity.
Commending the investigating teams, SP Dr G Janaki Sharmila announced rewards for officers including Mudhole CI Ravinder Naik, Basara SI S Deepak, Nirmal Town Inspector Sammayya, and others involved in the operation.