Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur

Puttur, Sep 4: Puttur Rural police have cracked the theft of a donation box from Sri Mahalingeshwara Temple in Bettampady with the arrest of a 31-year-old alleged inter-state thief from Kasargod, Keralam.

According to the complaint filed by Vinod Kumar B (44), a Bettampady resident and an administrative office-bearer of the temple, he went to the temple on the morning of August 25, 2026, and found that the donation box kept outside the temple was missing. A search of the surrounding area failed to yield any result.

The temple authorities then checked the CCTV footage and found that an unidentified person had allegedly lifted the donation box and fled with it on the night of August 24.

The box was suspected to contain around Rs 4,500 in cash, while the value of the donation box itself was estimated at Rs 2,500.

Based on the complaint, Puttur Rural police station registered Crime No. 110/2026 under Section 305(e) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched an investigation.

In a bid to trace the accused, the police team pursued various leads and conducted investigations at Kinnigaru, Badiadka and Adur in Kerala. Their efforts led them to Satish (31), a Kasaragod resident allegedly involved in inter-state thefts. He was arrested at Badiadka in Keralam.

Police recovered the stolen donation box from Satish and also seized a motorcycle allegedly used to commit the theft. The bike is estimated to be worth around Rs 1 lac.

Satish was produced before the competent court, which remanded him to judicial custody. Police said a case relating to arecanut theft has already been registered against him at Badiadka police station.

The operation was carried out under the direction of Puttur sub-divisional deputy superintendent of police Pramod Kumar and the guidance of Thimmapppa Naik, in-charge Inspector of Puttur Rural police station.

The team was led by Puttur Rural police station PSIs Guna P and Sushma G Bhandary. Head constables Ramesh and Nagaraj, constables Manjunath, Akash and Karthik, and crime division personnel Sharanappa Patil, Eranna and home guard Hariprasad took part in the operation.

Dakshina Kannada district CDR division personnel Sampath and Diwakar also extended assistance to the police team during the operation.