How a 3.30 am call helped Karnataka cops crack Vyasaraja shrine vandalism case

HUBBALI: When the Koppal police began their investigation into the vandalism of the Brindavana of Saint Vyasaraja, there were hardly any clues that could lead them to crack the case.

The district police constituted five teams of which two were engaged in analysing the mobile data in and around the island for a period of one week including the day the crime was committed.

An investigating officer told TNIE that the police teams probed more than 250 mobile phone numbers to crack the case in just three days. In fact, after the first accused in the case was picked up by the Koppal police, it took just five hours for the police team to nab the other five accused.

“The police team which was analysing the call records found that there was a call made from the island at 3.30 am. The same mobile was found to be located in Andhra Pradesh after some hours. Based on the call tower locations, we analysed that the accused reached the island on the previous evening and stayed there looking for treasure till 6 am,” the officer explained.

“The mobile number was monitored leading to the arrest of a priest and subsequently the other accused. In fact, during the investigation, the accused revealed that one of them had telephoned their accomplice in Tadipatri of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh stating that they were unable to find any precious stones in the shrine. Besides this number, two other Andhra Pradesh numbers were recorded in the same mobile tower range during the week,” the officer said. 

The police also said that the accused did repeated recces and found a way to walk towards the island. They crossed the river from the bridge end and reached the island before sunset. 

Police said the accused used to meet at the Ramalingeshwara temple in Tadipatri where they hatched the plan to loot ‘treasure’ from the shrine. “The priest of the temple believed that king Krishnadevaraya had hidden treasure including precious gems and diamonds in the shrine of Vyasaraja, his spiritual guru. The Ramalingeshwara temple too was built by Krishnadevaraya and the priest had told the accused he was sure that treasure was hidden in the shrine,” the officer added.

The police team also found cigarette butts on the island during the investigation. Though the team initially thought they could have been thrown by tourists or boatmen, it has now been established that the cigarette butts were left by the accused. “We now have biological evidence to prove the entry of the accused into the island,” the officer said.