Rachakonda Police Crack Panchaloha Theft Case

Hyderabad: Special Operations Team of the Rachakonda police has arrested three people in connection with a theft case of 12 panchaloha idols worth a sum of Rs 3 crores from an temple in Mahbubabad district. The idols found by the police date back to the Kakatiyan times.

The robbery was reported by Ramalayam priest Samudrala Venkata Laxmi Narsimhacharyulu when he found them missing from the temple. The temple had no CCTV cameras or a security guard, leading the local police no where.

The Rachakonda SOT intercepted a car at Abdullapurmet in which K. Latchi Ram, 31, of Saidabad, K. Santosh, 21, of Meerpet, V. John, 31, of Chaitanyapuri, all drivers by profession, were heading towards the city on the Friday morning. Police recovered three idols from their possession which were found in the car. On further questioning by police, Santosh confessed to hoarding nine more idols at his home.

An official from the SOT said, “Latchi Ram once went to Gundepudi to pray and learned about the old panchaloha idols. He searched in Google to find out the value of the idols and saw that they would be valued between Rs 2 crore and Rs 3 crore. He approached Santosh, a previous offender, and John who has a car. They went to the village, conducted a recce and on the night of October 27 stole the idols."

Rachakonda commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said that the trio was clueless as to how to sell the idols. They cut small pieces from three idols and melted the pieces to extract gold. The age of the idols and their value will be estimated with the help of the experts from the archaeology department. Along with the nine idols, three silver crowns and a car have also been seized from the robbers, added the commissioner.

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