Vijayawada: Police crack Durga temple silver lions theft case

Vijayawada: Vijayawada city police arrested a person in connection with the theft three silver lions of chariot at Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy temple and recovered 9 kg silver from his possession. Though the theft took place in June 2020 during the peak of Covid pandemic, it came to light later. The crime triggered a political storm with opposition blaming the government for looking other way as temples were attacked and desecrated in different parts of the state.

The accused was identified as Jakkamsetti Saibaba, 49, of Gollavanipeta village in Bhimavaram mandal of West Godoavari district. Giving details of the arrest, Vijayawada commissioner of police B Srinivasulu told the media on Saturday that Saibaba was an offender who robbed many temples since 2008 in West Godavari district and other places.

According to commissioner Srinivasulu, the accused was the habitual offender and also worked as daily wage labourer in aqua tanks and agriculture fields. The accused visited the Sri Durga temple for darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga in June last year and noticed the silver lion idols attached to the chariot. He found that there was no proper security due to lockdown. He decided to steal the silver lions and went back to his village. He came back to the temple in the same month and cleverly lifted the three idols between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm. Then he went to Tanuku town and sold them to a gold merchant for Rs 35,000. Before selling them, he hammered the idols out of shame so that no one recognises them.

The police during the course of investigation identified Saibaba as the one who robbed the idols after going through the past records of temple offenders. The commissioner said the idols were melted. Police also arrested the gold trader M Kamalesh, 39, of Surendra Jewellery showroom of Tanuku. The accused Saibaba was involved in more than 20 cases of temple robberies in West Godavari and Krishna districts since 2008.

Police commissioner Srinivasulu praised the assistant commissioner of police (West) K Hanumantha Rao, I Town circle inspector P Venkateswarlu and other staff for arresting the accused and cracking the mystery behind the sensational theft case.

Special Investigation Team (SIT) chief and DIG G V G Ashok Kumar said the police department was taking measures to protect the temples and places of worship in the state. He said village protection squads were being formed and CC cameras were installed at the places of worship across the state.