Macherla police help TS cops crack temple theft case

Nalgonda: The Macherla police in Guntur district helped the Alair police in cracking a temple deity’s theft case. Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, Alair Sub-Inspector of Police M Narasimha said that the Panchaloha deities of Lord Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman were stolen by some thieves from Kodanda Ramalayam of Alair mandal headquarters in the district on August 25 last year.
He said that the police registered a case in this regard and during investigation, they could not gather any information on the thieves for the last six months. However, the eight burglars involved in the case-A Venkateshwarlu, M Venkatashiva, T Venkateshwarlu, M Ramesh, Purakonda, Shaik Subhani, Shaik Moulana Moinuddin, Shaik Talam who are residents of Manchukallu village of Rendachinthal mandal in Guntur district were caught the thieves red handedly by Macherla SI Ch Sangaiah while they were trying to sell off the stolen Panchaloha deities to somebody near Macherla Indane gas godown on Monday.
After quizzing them, the Macherla Police handed over the thieves and returned the deities to Alair police on Tuesday. Alair Sub-Inspector of Police Narsimhulu thanked the Macherla police for nabbing the thieves and handing over the Panchaloha deities whose cost is Rs 6-8 lakh in the open market. Alair police remanded the thieves after producing them before media. The general public lauded the efforts of Macherla and Alair police on returning the stolen idols.