Nirmal district police have arrested a five-member gang allegedly involved in a series of thefts targeting temples, houses and shops across the district and neighbouring areas. Bhainsa ASP Sai Kiran disclosed the details during a media conference, stating that the accused were identified through a specialised investigation conducted by the police.
The district police, under the direction of SP Dr. G. Janaki Sharmila, had formed the Tigers Task Force to prevent and investigate thefts. The team, working under the supervision of the Bhainsa ASP and Nirmal DSP, analysed CCTV footage, technical evidence, the movements of suspects and their previous criminal records to trace the accused.
Police identified five accused persons—Rajasekhar, Rajeswar, Srikanth, Ram Charan and Kranthi—as being allegedly involved in 25 theft cases registered at different police stations in Nirmal district. Stolen property connected with 16 cases has already been recovered. Police seized three two-wheelers, 7.5 grams of gold, 300 grams of silver and five mobile phones from the accused.
Several cases registered within Nirmal Town police station limits were solved during the investigation. These included house burglaries and copper wire thefts in areas such as Mahadevapuram, Shastri Nagar, Sophinagar, Gallapet Road and Bangalpet, besides thefts at several temples.
Police solved a house burglary involving gold and silver ornaments in Mahadevapuram, a cash theft in Shastri Nagar, and theft cases at the Ayyappa Swamy Temple in Divyanagar and the Mahalakshmi temples in Mahalakshmi Wada and Bangalpet. A theft involving two silver crowns and a silver armour at the Hanuman Temple in Shastri Nagar was also traced. Cases involving theft of silver articles and cash from a house at Gallapet Road were also solved.
In Nirmal Rural limits, police identified the involvement of the accused in an attempted house burglary near Talweda X Road and a theft at the Ramalayam in Kautla-K village involving silver ornaments and other articles. Investigations are continuing to gather further evidence.
In Mamda limits, the accused were linked to a theft of silver ornaments and other articles from the Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Koratikal village. Police also solved two temple theft cases in Sarangapur mandal involving the Mahalakshmi Temple at Vanjar and the Shiva Temple at Alur.
In Lokeshwaram limits, police traced the accused in connection with the theft of a silver serpent ornament from the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Kistapur. In Laxmanchanda limits, their involvement was identified in the theft of silver ornaments from the Hanuman Temple at Wadyal village. Police also identified their role in an attempted theft at the Pochamma Temple in Tanur mandal.
The accused were also allegedly involved in temple theft cases in Andhra Pradesh, including at the Veerabrahmendra Swamy Temple under Gannavaram police station limits and a Vinayaka Temple under Eluru III Town police station limits.
Police said several other theft cases have been solved during the past ten days following the formation of the Nirmal Tigers Task Force. In Nirmal Rural limits, three persons were arrested in a copper wire theft case and the stolen property was recovered.
Four accused were arrested in the Barkatpura house-breaking case, leading to the recovery of gold and silver ornaments. Police also recovered 15 kilograms of copper wire in a shutter-lifting case.
A mobile phone theft reported at Nursery Shantinagar was solved within 24 hours, while a Pulsar motorcycle theft was also traced and the stolen bike recovered.
The police said the accused were identified by carefully analysing CCTV footage from crime scenes, technical evidence, suspect movements and previous criminal records. Linking cases registered at different police stations helped investigators establish the alleged involvement of the five accused.
SP Dr. G. Janaki Sharmila, IPS, congratulated Bhainsa ASP Sai Kiran, IPS, Nirmal DSP Srinivas, CIs Krishna and Sammaiah, SIs Limbadri, Ganesh, Srikanth and S.K. Gaffar, Head Constable Jagan Singh and PCs Tirupati and Satish for their efforts in cracking the cases.
The SP stated that police teams worked in coordination to solve the series of temple thefts and house-breaking cases and recover stolen property. Police further said that special surveillance would continue to prevent thefts and strict action would be taken against those targeting temples, houses and shops.
