Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore / Moodbidri (RD/MB)
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje

Moodbidri, Jan 7: The town police of Moodbidri have arrested an idol-lifter, who was allegedly involved in a series of temple thefts across the taluk and the neighbouring taluks in Dakshina Kannada district, who might be linked a larger gang of thieves.

Moideen and the idols recovered from him

The person arrested is Moideen Sanoor (24), hailing from Karkala, who was nabbed on Sunday January 6 morning at Alangar under the limits of Moodbidri police station. Three precious temple idols were recovered from his possession. They are locally worth around Rs 10 lac, while in the unofficial international trade, thye are estimated to fetch double the amount.

Moideen was produced in the court of JMFC, who remanded him to judicial custody.

Investigations are on to look into the wider angle of the theft cases and efforts are being made to track down others who may be involved in similar acts, since there have been several instances of temple thefts in the district in recent times.