Basadi theft case: Prime accused brought to DK, more info revealed
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore
Mangalore, Jul 30: Santosh Das alias Ghanshyam, the mastermind behind the theft of idols from Moodbidri Basadi, was on Monday July 29 brought to the district and produced before the judge. He was later taken to the spot of crime for further investigation.
Mangalore police with the help of Andhra Pradesh police arrested the inter-state thief in connection to the theft of 15 idols worth crores from Siddanta Mandir at Moodbidri.
Santosh Das, basically from Odisha, was arrested three days back at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh
During investigation, the thief tried to give wrong information to police but later revealed that he had kept a gas cutter (pipe wrench) in Koti Basadi, opposite to Siddanta Mandir. Police while searching the place, found the gas cutter. He was later produced before the judge and sent to 11 days' police custody.
In the next 11 days, the police will collect complete information about the theft from the accused. Sources said that the arrested thief has admitted to his involvement in thefts at Kodyadka temple and jewellery thefts at Udupi and Karkala.
On July 6, between 1 am and 4 am, masked thieves entered Siddanta Darshan Mandir by breaking the window with the help of the pipe wrench. They then broke the shutter of the room where idols were kept, looted the idols and fled from the spot.
Recently, high security was given to Siddanth Mandir. It had 8 CCTV cameras, security system with 3 thumb password and siren system. Police with the help of the footage obtained from CCTV, arrested Santosh.
Police who examined the footage from the CCTV, prepared a rough sketch of the accused and released it to the media. At one place, the thief had pulled down his mask till nose, as he was unable to breathe which made police job a bit easy in preparing the sketch. One team of police officials collected information from the hotels and lodges in Moodbidri during which police found details of Santhosh Das alias Ghanshyam Das in Navami lodge.
Santhosh who stayed in Navami lodge for 3 days made frequent calls to his wife from the landline number. This made investigation easier to police. Also, at the time of leaving the lodge, he had entered the correct address of his house in the lodge records. Hence police team visited his house in Bhubaneswar and traced him.
Another police team with the help of the accused's mobile network travelled to various places. As the accused did not stick to one place, police found it difficult to arrest him. Hence police had arrested his wife Diptimayee and her father Digambar Mohanty for not divulging information about his whereabouts, said sources.
In order to release Diptimayee and Digambar, younger brother of Santosh Das visited Mangalore. Police who kept an eye on him, arrested him later. While interrogating, he revealed the new number of Santosh and with that, the Mangalore CCB police arrested him.
As per the information obtained, on the day of the theft, the accused Santosh at around 4 am left to Venur in auto rickshaw and from there he caught an another auto and reached Dharmasthala from where he left to Banagalore and then to Bhubaneswar. Santosh had kept the idols at his father-in-law Digambar's house and was absconding.
Involvement of influential persons suspected
The Basadi theft case has given way for much suspicion. It is suspected that influential political leaders are behind the theft case. Sources said that there is a big network that sells ancient idols stolen by Santosh. Police have received information that the theft was backed by an influential person from Chhattisgarh and a close relative of a top politician.