Vijayawada police have cracked a case of theft of three silver lion-shaped ornaments from the Kanaka Durga temple chariot and have apprehended two persons for their involvement in the crime. A case had been registered based on a complaint by temple authorities on September 17, 2020, after the lions went missing from the chariot in spite of being placed in an area usually crowded with devotees.
Vijayawada police said in a press statement that they have arrested two men, Jakkampudi Saibaba (49) from Bhimavaram and Muttha Kamalesh (39) from Tanuku, both places in West Godavari district. Police said that they traced the case to the prime accused, Saibaba, after looking into call data records of persons with criminal records. They said that Saibaba had confessed to several temple thefts back in 2013. Kamalesh, on the other hand, manages a gold business.
According to the police, Saibaba would often visit temples to identify valuables and conduct a recce while pretending to be a regular devotee, before planning and executing his thefts. He would allegedly carry out the thefts at night and do farm labour and other jobs during the day, so as to not raise suspicion.
With income sources drying out because of the lockdown, police said that Saibaba came from Bhimavaram to Vijayawada. On visiting the temple, he noticed the chariot kept in a shed and covered in blue cloth, and the silver lion ornaments on it. According to the police, he then returned to Bhimavaram where he bought two iron roads and a big bag, before returning to Vijayawada.
On the day of the theft, he arrived at the temple in the evening and pretended to be a ragpicker holding a huge bag as he moved towards the chariot shed, according to the police. He reached the shed around 8.30 pm without arousing suspicion and jumped over a wall to reach the chariot. Once he was inside, he allegedly used the metal rods to detach the three silver lions from the chariot. As the fourth lion did not get detached in spite of him trying for a long time, he gave up and left with the three silver lions in his bag.
He then allegedly went to a village near Tanuku, where he smashed the lions so they couldn’t be recognised, and then sold the silver in a jewellery shop for Rs 35,000. Police have seized nine kilos of silver from the accused, which they have said is from the silver lions of the Kanaka Durga temple chariot. Another 6.4 kilos of silver related to other temple thefts has also been seized, police said.