After three crowns from the Sri Govinda Raja Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati went missing, two months ago, the police have now arrested the culprit. The jeweller to whom the crowns were pledged, has also been taken into custody
Tirupati: Two persons have been arrested in connection with the theft of three crowns from the Sri Govinda Raja Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, two months ago.
The main accused was arrested in Mumbai on Monday. The stolen crowns weighed 1,351 gram and were valued at Rs 50 lakh. Akash Pratap was taken into custody at the Dadar police station in Mumbai.
The police said that he is a native of Nanded district in Maharashtra and confessed to the crime.
Reports suggest that Pratap pledged the crowns to a local jeweller in his hometown and the jeweller too is now in police custody.
For further investigation, the duo has been shifted to Tirupati.
Police are now probing to find any insider links that Pratap may have received to carry out the crime.
The incident came to light when the temple staff realised crowns were missing, while preparing for the weekly procession.
The temple was closed at 5 pm for devotees. When it was reopened at 5:45 pm, one of the priests found that the crowns were missing.
Govinda Raja Swamy Temple is a 12th century shrine that was built by saint Ramanujacharya.
It is one of the earliest structures in Tirupati and is also one of the biggest temple complexes in Chittoor district.
Nine teams had been formed to crack the case.
Officials had scanned CCTV footage of the temple and surrounding areas. Some temple employees, including the priests who were on duty, were questioned.
The top brass of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) had also initiated disciplinary action and suspended two priests attached to the sub-temple, from where the crowns disappeared, on grounds of negligence.
The matter had also reached Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who took serious note of the theft and directed the police to take immediate steps to apprehend the culprits.
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