TIRUPATI: Eighty days after the theft of three gold crowns from Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple in the heart of the temple town, the police on Tuesday arrested the man allegedly behind it and recovered the booty.
However, the thief–Akash Pratap Sarodi, a native of Khandar village in Nanded district of Maharashtra–converted the ornaments into a gold bar after failing to find any buyer. He sold a small part of the loot.
The theft had taken place in one of the sub temples of Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple on February 2.
Tirupati Urban SP KKN Anburajan said six teams of 40 personnel worked hard for 80 days to nab the accused. The SP said Akash, a cell phone thief, was involved in house burglaries in 2010, when he was just 15-16 years old. Stating that Akash visited Tirupati every three-four months to steal cell phones, the SP added that six to seven cases were registered against him.
A few days before committing the theft at the temple, he had come to Tirupati with his friend and, reportedly, conducted a recce of the shrine. Akash had stolen the crowns between 12 noon and 3 pm, which came to the priests’ notice only around 5.45 pm.
Later, Akash, after consuming liquor at a wine shop, reached Renigunta by road from where he took a train to Kacheguda. The accused tried to sell the ornaments both at Renigunta and Kacheguda, but no one was willing to buy the gold in the form of crowns, the police added.
“Akash’s movement was recorded on CCTVs installed on the temple premises and Kacheguda Railway Station. At the railway station, his movement near the ticket counter could not be recorded as the CCTV there did not work. However, he was captured on other cameras at the station,’’ the SP said.
The police verified the trains that departed from the station at that particular time and figured out that he was moving towards Nanded. Teams were sent to Maharashtra, but failed to catch him in time. In the meantime, Akash, after turning the crown into a gold bar, had sold a small part of it to a local pawn broker, and hid the rest in his house. The police, with the help of his photograph, continued their search. When Akash came to his house recently to sell the remaining gold, he was caught. Based on his confession, the police recovered 1,351 grams of the bar and the small portion of gold that was pledged with the broker.
Report on TTD gold submitted to CS
Vijayawada: Special Chief Secretary (Revenue - Land and Endowments) Manmohan Singh has submitted a report to the Chief Secretary on the alleged lapses in transporting 1,381 kg gold belonging to the TTD.