Couple arrested for thefts in temples across state

Kundapur: A couple was arrested by the Kundapur police on charges of committing thefts in houses and temples in various districts across the state.

The arrested have been identified as Rajesh Naik (42), a resident of Indrali, and his wife Padma (37), a native of Dharwad.

The Kundapur police carried on an operation to nab the accused after a complaint of theft was filed in by Jayaraj Shetty, in which he stated that he had gone to his father-in-law’s funeral on September 6 when thieves struck his house in Beejadi village. The thieves had taken away gold and silver ornaments valued at Rs 9,88,500.

During the operation, the Police recovered 202 grams of gold, 1 kg of silver, and 2 two-wheelers from them. The couple allegedly committed thefts in Kundapur, Udupi, Hubballi, Manipal, Gangolli, and Dharwad.

The operation was conducted under the directions of SP Vishnuvardhana and was supervised by additional SP Kumarchandra and ASI Hariram Shankar and the police team consisted of Kundapur circle inspector Gopikrishna K R, Kundapur PSI Sadashiv Gavaroji, PSI Sudarshan, Shankarnarayana PSI Shridhar Naik, Manjunath, Santosh, Raghavendra Siddappa, Sitaram, Victor, Gururaj, Udaya, women constables Baby, Chandravathi, Ashritha, and driver Santosh.

The police had registered a case under sections 454, 457, and 380 of the IPC.