Three arrested for ‘stealing’ ornaments from temple in Nandyal district

The Chagalmarri police arrested three persons, including a priest and retired executive officer of the Endowments Department, for allegedly stealing ornaments from Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at Madduru village in Nandyal district. Police recovered 5.800 kg of silver ornaments worth ₹14.76 lakh from the three accused.

The theft of the silver ornaments was noticed on ‘Vaikuntha Ekadasi’ day when the presiding deity was reportedly adorned with duplicate silver ornaments. Devotees noticed the deity adorned with duplicate ornaments and took up the issue with the temple authorities, following which a complaint was lodged with the police.

As per the directions of Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Sheoran, a case was registered and investigation taken up under the supervision of Allagadda DSP K. Pramod.

Police investigation revealed that temple priest Mamidi Krishna Kishore of Allagadda town and former temple executive officer Bhagavatham Venkata Narsayya allegedly colluded and stole the original ornaments and sold them to a gold and silver trader, Dudekula Pedda Husenayya. They reportedly replaced the real ornaments with duplicate ones.

Police said the accused were arrested near Kashireddy Nayana Ashram, on way to Kotakandukuru village in Allagadda mandal. The SP appreciated Allagadda DSP Pramod, and his team of officials for successfully detecting the case and recovering the stolen ornaments within a week.