Special Team Cracks Temple Theft Case, Four Arrested In Indore

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Police arrested four suspects, including a woman, for their alleged involvement in a theft at the Shri Digambar Jain Navgrah Jinalaya temple in the Greater Baba area under the Aerodrome police station limits, police said on Wednesday.

Police cracked the case after examining footage from around 200 CCTV cameras and conducting a detailed technical investigation. The suspects allegedly broke into the temple late at night and stole silver idols, utensils and other valuable religious items.

According to Additional DCP (Zone-1) Sumit Kerketta, the theft took place between 2 am and 3 am on 3. Temple committee member Anurag Vaid filed a complaint at the Aerodrome police station, stating that unidentified persons had broken the temple lock and escaped with silver idols, silver utensils and a silver religious platform.

A case was immediately registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and an investigation was launched.

Senior police officials formed a 10-member special team under the supervision of ACP Vivek Singh Chauhan. A reward of Rs 10,000 was announced for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.

Police teams monitored known burglars, questioned suspects and checked CCTV footage from the crime scene and other parts of the city. Technical analysis and surveillance later helped police identify and arrest four suspects.

The arrested suspects were identified as Lalit Singh Chauhan, Vishal Kevat, Omprakash Chauhan and Geeta Bai Makwana.

Police recovered two silver idols weighing around one kilogram in total, an ashtadhatu idol weighing around six kilograms, four silver kalash and a motorcycle allegedly used in the crime. The recovered property is worth around Rs 4 lakh.

Police said further investigation is underway to trace other suspects and recover the remaining stolen items.