Inter-state temple thief arrested Vissannapeta Police

VIJAYAWADA: Vissannapeta police on Tuesday nabbed a most wanted burglar who was involved in thefts in various temples across the country. The accused was identified as Pathan Salaar Khan (50), a native of Padamati Veedhi in Eluru of West Godavari district.

Disclosing the case details, CI M Sekhar Babu said that on September 14 night, some unidentified miscreants entered Dasanjaneya Swamy temple at Korlamanda and stole Rs 2,000 by breaking open the hundi.

“Taking a serious note of the incident, SP M Ravindranath Babu has constituted four teams. Acting on a tip-off, the police nabbed the accused in the early hours of Tuesday and recovered 2,000 from him,” the CI explained.

“During our preliminary investigation, Khan confessed to have committed similar thefts at Anjaneya Swamy temple in Chillakallu on July 4 and Ramalayam in Mylavaram mandal on September 8. In the two incidents, the accused had stolen `16,000 by breaking open the temple hundis. Around 80 cases have been registered against the accused at various police stations,” Sekhar said.