Tirupati: Three months after the theft of three crowns in Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, the police have recovered the crowns in its molten form.

The three crowns which were stolen, weighed approximately 1,351 gm and were valued at around Rs 50 lakh.

Officials investigating the case said that the accused had melted the crowns and was looking to sell the gold, when he was arrested.

Superintendent of police Anbhurajan, in his address to the media, said that several special teams had worked to crack the case over the last 80 days.

The accused's movements were first recorded on CCTV cameras within the temple premises and later at the Tirupati railway station, police said.

The police caught the accused after chalking out various possibilities of trains that he could have boarded from the Nizamabad railway station.

Police also said that they broadcast an alert bulletin in the local media in Nanded (Maharashtra), which also helped in nabbing the accused.

According to reports, the recovered melted gold will be handed over to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) officials, while another set of three crowns would be arranged for the deity of Govindaraja Temple.

The theft, which had taken place in the first week of February this year had raised a lot of concern over the security of jewellery and other properties of the TTD. 

The main accused Akash Pratap was arrested in Mumbai on April 8 and was taken to Dadar police station. The police said that he is a native of Nanded district in Maharashtra and he confessed to the crime.