The city police have been successful in arresting five persons in connection with the theft in the house of Kateel Sri Durgaparameshwari Temple priest Vasudeva Asranna at Kateel.
All the five arrested are the ones who plotted the theft. Speaking to reporters on Monday, City Police Commissioner M Chandra Sekhar said that the arrested are Sudeendra Rao H K alias Sudeendra alias Sushilendra Rao (33), a resident of Barebail Road in Mangaluru; Chidananda (33) of Thenka Ekkaru; Sooraj Kumar (35) of Ekkaru; Suresh Kumar (40) of Punacha; and Sadashiva Shetty (49) of Thenka Ekkaru.
"The prime accused Sudeendra Rao is a businessman and a real estate owner. He had taken a loan from various sources and could not clear the loan. Hoping that the house will have a huge amount of cash and gold ornaments, Rao, along with four others planned the theft. Liju, who executed the plan with five others, is still at large," said the commissioner.
Of the arrested, Suresh Kumar is an employee at the Kateel Durgaparameshwari Temple and a relative of prime accused, while Sadashiva Shetty is the driver of Rao.
The commissioner added that Rao was frequently visiting the Kateel temple and was acquainted with Asranna. It may be recalled that, on October 4, about eight unidentified persons, armed with weapons, had forcibly entered the house of Asranna's son and decamped with 80 pawns of gold ornaments, cash and three mobile phones. The arrested had disposed of the stolen gold ornaments. The police have recovered cash of Rs 4,25,000 (received from selling the ornaments), a gold pendant with the picture of Kateel Durgaparameshwari goddess weighing 3.91 gram, five mobile phones and a car.
The Police Commissioner had formed four teams to crack the case. Acting on a tip-off, the CCB unit inspector Sunil Y Nayak and Bajpe police inspector T D Nagaraj and others arrested five persons when they had parked the car at Hunsekatte bus stand at Thenka Ekkaru on Monday. Lauding the efforts of the team in nabbing the accused, the City Police Commissioner said that the team will be rewarded suitably.
All the five arrested are the ones who plotted the theft. Speaking to reporters on Monday, City Police Commissioner M Chandra Sekhar said that the arrested are Sudeendra Rao H K alias Sudeendra alias Sushilendra Rao (33), a resident of Barebail Road in Mangaluru; Chidananda (33) of Thenka Ekkaru; Sooraj Kumar (35) of Ekkaru; Suresh Kumar (40) of Punacha; and Sadashiva Shetty (49) of Thenka Ekkaru.
"The prime accused Sudeendra Rao is a businessman and a real estate owner. He had taken a loan from various sources and could not clear the loan. Hoping that the house will have a huge amount of cash and gold ornaments, Rao, along with four others planned the theft. Liju, who executed the plan with five others, is still at large," said the commissioner.
Of the arrested, Suresh Kumar is an employee at the Kateel Durgaparameshwari Temple and a relative of prime accused, while Sadashiva Shetty is the driver of Rao.
The commissioner added that Rao was frequently visiting the Kateel temple and was acquainted with Asranna. It may be recalled that, on October 4, about eight unidentified persons, armed with weapons, had forcibly entered the house of Asranna's son and decamped with 80 pawns of gold ornaments, cash and three mobile phones. The arrested had disposed of the stolen gold ornaments. The police have recovered cash of Rs 4,25,000 (received from selling the ornaments), a gold pendant with the picture of Kateel Durgaparameshwari goddess weighing 3.91 gram, five mobile phones and a car.
The Police Commissioner had formed four teams to crack the case. Acting on a tip-off, the CCB unit inspector Sunil Y Nayak and Bajpe police inspector T D Nagaraj and others arrested five persons when they had parked the car at Hunsekatte bus stand at Thenka Ekkaru on Monday. Lauding the efforts of the team in nabbing the accused, the City Police Commissioner said that the team will be rewarded suitably.