Pune: Pune rural police on Monday claimed to have detected more than 20 theft in temples in various cities of the country, with the arrest of three gangs, which consisted of two women and men.
The police have restored gold and silver ornaments and stolen vans, collectively worth RS12 Lakh, from the trio.
The man who was arrested by the suspect, Shahrukh Pathhan (24) from Purandar Taluka, was a vehicle thief on Pune’s record and Pimpri Chinchwad Police.
“The women who were arrested were the wife of Pathhan and his cousin,” additional supervisor of the Police (Rustic Sp-Pune) Millind Muhite told TI.
Mohite said that in the early hours of January 8, several people entered the Sanctum Sanctorum from Shirsai Devi’s temple in Shirsuphal Village in Baramati Taluka, about 100 km from the city of Pune, and released with gold and silver ornaments, lights and speakers, collectively worth more RS1.
2 lakh.
“Theft was revealed around 5 in the morning, when Imam Temple, Vaibhav Kshirsagar, won morning prayer.
He immediately told Sarpanch and the police,” SP said.
He added that there was a CCTV camera in that place, but the recording was unclear because the theft occurred at night.
“Police Inspector (PI) Mahesh Dhavan and his team examined more than 65 pieces of footage from neighboring villages and ensuring the van used by the trio,” said Mohite.
After the police obtain a van registration number, they found that it had been stolen from PimPRI in 4.
December “with the help of a technical investigation, our team was informed that the suspects were in Kolhapur Regency.
We put traps and respond to the trio,” said Mohite.
As long as it was questioned, the gang recognized his involvement in theft at Shirsai Devi’s temple.
“They also claimed to have stolen ornaments from temples in Satara, Kolhapur, Beed, Osmanabad, Nagpur and Wardha District,” Top Police said.
Police Inspector Assistant (API) Yogesh Langute told Tii, “Pathhan is used to steal four wheels before targeting any temple.
The gang is used to travel between various fields to identify the temple with a lack of security guards,” Langute said.
After identifying the temple, they will enter by breaking the key.
“The women helped Pathan shift ornaments or stolen articles into the van,” Langute said, adding that the gang crossed most of the districts in the country.
“We suspect that they are involved in more than 50 temple theft.
They have been returned in police custody until January 15.
Our probe lights up,” said API.