Police crack Nandi idol theft, arrest 6

Rajamahendravaram: Ramachandrapuram police cracked the theft case of Nandi idol from Sri Agasteswara Swamy temple at Ramachandrapuram on January 23 and nabbed six persons besides seizing the vehicle used to transport the idol.

Disclosing the details to the media at Ramachandrapuram on Saturday night, inspector P Shiva Ganesh said that sub-inspector P Lakshmi suspected the movement of six persons at bypass road junction and on the directions of DSP Jayanthi Vasavi Santosh, took them into custody.
During the interrogation, it was found that the gang had lifted the Nandi idol from Agasteeswara Swamy temple last month.  

A godman Rama Krishna of Rajamahendravaram told P Srinivas and  P V V Rao of Rajamahendravaram and B R L Choudary of Ramachandrapuram that there were diamonds under Nandi idol which can be sold for crores of rupees. 

The trio then hatched a plan to steal the diamonds and implemented it on January 23 with the help of some others. On the midnight of January 23, they pulled out the ancient idol by digging the tiles and shifted it to Gummalladoddi village near Gokavaram in a Tata vehicle. Later, they broke Nandi idol but found nothing in it. Then they left it there and fled. 

The arrested persons are P Srinivas and PVV Rao of Rajamahendravaram, BRL Choudary of Ramachandrapuram, Anand Ratna Kumar of Jangala colony of Rajanagaram, K V V N Murthy of of Ravulapadu and T Satyananarayana of Gummalladoddi village.  Meanwhile, Rama Krishna, the godman, of Rajamahendravaram was at large.