VIJAYAWADA: The City Police on Thursday arrested a person for stealing a 18-kg panchaloha idol from Radha Sri Santhoshi Matha Temple under the Nunna Police station limits on Wednesday.
The accused was identified as Macharaju Durga Prasad alias Moddhu Durga Prasad alias Bhupathi (35), a resident of Radha Nagar, Payakapuram, Vijayawada. Police also recovered the stolen idol from the accused.
Disclosing details to the media at his chambers on Thursday, City Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata said a case was filed based on the complaint by Ch Chitti Babu.
Special teams were constituted under ADCP (Crime) K Srinivasa Rao. Nunna Inspector Ganesh and his team inspected the crime scene and gathered the evidence with the help of clue teams. The special teams investigated the case from all possible angles based on the CCTV camera footage, they traced the identity of the culprit.
During the investigation, the police came to know that the accused was a daily wage labourer doing tile work. He stole the 40-year-old idol from the temple, which was under renovation, in his locality to make easy money. On Wednesday morning, the accused went to the temple and stole the ancient Panchaloha idol and hid it in a dilapidated building in front of his residence.
The CP said the special teams arrested the accused after examining the CC footage from the crime scene, the area where the accused roamed.
Rana said that following the directions from the state government to prevent the attacks on temples, around 1,500 CCTV cameras were installed in Vijayawada and of them 200 CCTV were installed in Nunna with the support of the donors and residential welfare associations.
Steps will be taken to intensify vigil in the temples in the city, he said. Later, the CP also commended the efforts of the special teams for cracking the case within 12 hours after the incident was reported and handed over a cash incentive to them.