HUBBALLI: Six people, including a temple priest, were arrested on Sunday in connection with the
vandalism
at Anegundi in
Hampi
last week. The gang on treasure hunt had dug up the samadhi of Madhwa saint Vyasaraja at Nava
Brindavana
, built on an island in the Tungabhadra river. It is close to the world heritage site of Hampi.
Ballari IGP M Nanjundaswami told reporters that the group from Andhra Pradesh was in search of treasure. A seventh person is on the run. Treasure-hunters are a growing menace in the Koppal-Ballari belt where King Krishnadevaraya’s wealth is believed to be buried.
Police suspect vandals got local helpThe accused had visited Brindavana twice earlier and planned to dig up the samadhi on their third visit. They started digging around 8.30pm on Wednesday after the priest conducted a puja. They dug up the samadhi till 2.40am on Thursday and stopped after hitting a rock,” Ballari IGP M Nanjundaswami said in Gangavati, Koppal district.
The group arrived in an Innova, took the ferry to the island and stayed back, Koppal cops said.
Police suspect the gang had local help in fleeing from the island in the early hours of morning.
“The accused are T Balanarasayya, priest of Sri Bugga Ramalingeshwara temple in Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh; Murali Manohar Reddy, D Manohar Derangallu, K Kummata Keshava, B Vijayakumar and Sriramulu. We have launched a hunt for another accused, Srinivas Reddy,” the IGP said.
He said police zeroed in on the accused after studying the mobile numbers in operation at the nearest mobile tower. Five teams were formed which visited Andhra Pradesh to detain suspects, he said.
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