Maha thieves involved in temple thefts arrested at Madanapalli

Tirupati: Four thieves from Maharashtra involved in temple thefts were arrested by the Madanapalli police in Annamayya district on Tuesday. The accused arrested by the police were identified as Aniket Kailas Kasarode, 27, Sunil Devarao Suryavanshi, 24, Manish Gopal Vadive, 21, and Prakash Mansaram Khare, 18. Police investigation revealed that the accused targeted locked temples during the night to loot donation boxes and strip deities of their jewellery. Following recent thefts reported at temples at Vayalpadu and Battalapalli, special teams formed to investigate the temple thefts nabbed the accused near Chandra colony at Madanapalli. Police recovered silver articles weighing 4 kg and some gold ornaments, all worth approximately ₹5 lakh, from the possession of the accused. Further police investigation revealed that the same gang was also involved in temple thefts reported at Guntur and Ongole.