SHIVAMOGGA: Police have arrested the main accused in the Kuvempu house burglary case, but are yet to trace the Padma Vibhushan medal that was among the articles stolen.
Revanasiddappa, alias Kayaka Revanna of Turchaghatta in Davangere district, had burgled Kuvempu’s house at Kuppali in Tirthahalli taluk on November 23 and escaped with the Padma Vibhushan and awards given by the Mysore University.
Police also arrested Anjanappa of Kariganur in Channagiri taluk, who had been working as a guide at Kuppali, and Prakash of Mandarahalli in Shivamogga taluk, who bought the citations of Rs 10,000 from the main accused. All three were remanded to judicial custody. IGP (Easter Range) M Nanjundaswamy told reporters on Friday that Revanasiddappa lost the Padma Vibhushan medal while escaping.
At 8.30 pm on November 23, Revanasiddappa, who faces 13 burglary charges, entered Kuvempu’s house by removing roof tiles and stole medals after damaging CCTV cameras and the power box. The accused admitted that Anjanappa had given him information about the medals and instigated him to steal them, saying they contained gold, the IGP said.
The special team formed by Superintendent of Police Ravi D Channannanavar and led by ASP Vishnuvardhan was given a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for catching the accused, he added. The team constituted DySPs Pampapathi, Ramachandra Naik, inspectors Manjunath, Tirumalesh, and Gururaj, and PSIs Bharath Kumar and E O Manjunath.
Noticing the CCTV grab that appeared in newspapers and on TV, Davangere constable Manjunath informed the police about the accused. He was honoured with Rs 10,000.