An office boy of the Sri Sringeri Math at Nallakunta, popularly known as Shankar Math, was taken into custody by the police on the charge of stealing gold coins weighing 25 tolas from a safe in the math.
The suspect identified as Sai Ram, a native of Madhira of Khammam district, had allegedly taken to stealing gold coins from December. The offence came to light on May 15, after the authorities had found that some coins were missing from the safe, said Detective Inspector of Nallakunta police station K Saidulu.
The temple authorities approached the police after internal enquiry had failed to give any result. Based on their complaint, the police registered a case and zeroed in on Sai Ram for the offence.
The total value of the missing coins is around ₹7.5 lakh.
“We found that the suspect has been stealing gold since December. The temple manager used to leave the safe keys in the office and, when no was around, Sai Ram used to commit the offence,” said the investigators. The police were questioning the suspect.
