Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Bhushan G Borase informed on Monday that five criminals who were actively involved in looting ten temples in the district, the past six months have been nabbed.

The SP in a press meet said that five temple thieves with multiple cases registered against their names were caught while one of them got busted in his debut thievery. The team of six burglars was reduced to five after one lost his life in a fatal car crash in Bengaluru, informed Borase. Chandrakanth Poojary (36) from Honnavar, Narasimha Raju AKA Basava Raju (38) from Bengaluru, Naveen Chandra Bhan Singh (21) from Maharashtra, Vijay Suresh Bhonsle (35) from Maharashta and Vishal Ponke (21) from Maharashtra were nabbed by the Maharashtra police. Prakash Mandya died in a car accident and Vishal, the person who disposed the jewelry off was the person who was arrested in his debut act of thievery.

The gang had accumulated 22 kilograms of silver and 75 grams of gold worth an estimated Rs 12.5 lakh. They robbed ten temples in various parts of Puttur, Belthangady, Eeshwaramangala, Bantwal and Mangaluru. The Superintendent of Police Dakshina Kannada District, Bhushan G Borase said that the six member team used go around secluded temples, examine the area and after knowing that there are no CCTV cameras or burglar alarms, they would loot the temples at night when there was no one around.

“The jewelry shops where Vishal went to dispose the jewelry co-operated with us completely. This made our work easy. Personnel from Mangaluru police force who helped in investigating into the matter and going an extra mile were rewarded with cash as incentives for their work in the case. Maharashtra and Bengaluru police worked with Mangaluru police to catch the accused,” said Borase.