A six-member gang, which was allegedly involved in a series of thefts at temples in Visakhapatnam and in Vizianagaram districts, was arrested by the Vizianagaram police on Sunday. All the accused are aged between 21 and 24 years.
The arrested were identified as T. Veerababu, M. Nagarajuna, M. Dhanaraju, S.. Sai, A. Chiranjeevi and G. Eswara Rao, all hailing from various places in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts. Twenty-seven cases in which the accused were allegedly involved are under Pending Trial (P.T).
Addressing a press conference at the District Police Office here, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Visakha Range) L.K.V. Ranga Rao said that on September 23, unidentified miscreants had entered a temple and stole a hundi.
On the same night, they tried to commit a theft at another temple at Dasannapeta. A special team was formed, under the guidance of Mr. Ranga Rao, following the series of temple thefts.
On September 27, at around 3 a.m., the Vizianagaram II Town police nabbed six persons, who were found moving in suspicious circumstances in an auto-rickshaw. On questioning, the accused confessed to their involvement in 19 temple offences, including more than 10 in Visakhapatnam district (city and rural areas) – Parawada, Steel Plant, Kurmannapalem, Gajuwaka, Kailasapuram, Chepaluppada, Lankelapalem, Chodavaram, K Kotapadu and Sabbavaram.
Mr. Ranga Rao said that the robberies were committed for easy money.
The accused used to travel in an auto-rickshaw, owned by Nagarajuna, to look for temples located in secluded places and commit the offence by gaining entry into them and fleeing with the cash in the hundis, he said.
