Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Apr 22: A few people, who have been accused of stealing a vanity bag belonging to a woman devotee containing ornaments worth lacs of rupees during her visit to Lord Vinayaka temple at Anegudde here on Thursday April 20 afternoon, have been arrested by the local police with help from Chikkamagaluru police. The arrests were made on Friday April 21 at Moodigere in Chikkamagaluru district.

Jyotilaxmi from Bengaluru had come to Anegudde to pray to the presiding deity at Vinayaka temple there when a vanity bag held by her in her hand was stolen. The CCTV cameras inside the temple had captured the incident. The police, who took up investigation on the basis of CCTV footage, succeeded in arresting the accused within 24 hours of the incident. Swift action of the police in this case has come in for lavish praise from people in general.

A special investigating team led by deputy superintendent of police here, Praveen Nayak, police circle inspector, Manjappa, and police sub inspector, Nassir Hussain, had been formed to crack the case. The CCTV footage also showed the thieves leaving the temple in a car. The police found that the vehicle stood in the name of a person from Haveri district. The police who got to know the location of the car through the car owner, also found out that the car had stopped for sometime at Sringeri before proceeding towards Moodigere. With help from Moodigere police, seven women travelling in the said car were arrested from Moodigere Circle on Friday.

The arrested accused have been brought to the town. On the face of it, this appears to be a team of thieves comprising only women, who have expertise in stealing valuables from pilgrims visiting famous pilgrimage centres. The police want to find out whether they were involved in other cases of thefts and whether the team has some other members.