After getting information from the Karnataka police, their Andhra Pradesh counterparts on Saturday arrested Ghanashyam Das alias Santosh of Nayagarh district for looting idols and articles from a Jain shrine in Moodabidri near Mangalore in Karnataka, informed Bhubaneswar DCP Nitinjit Singh here.
Singh said Das, the mastermind of the case, was arrested from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. The accused would be handed over to the Karnataka police soon. Das was frequently changing his locations, said the police, adding that the Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh police had kept vigil on his movement by tracking his mobile phone.
Das was in news for keeping the stolen Jain idols and other materials in his father-in-law’s house at Sailashree Vihar in Bhubaneswar which was recovered by a special squad of the Commissionerate Police on July 13 after getting information from the Mangalore police. The police had also seized around one kg of gold from Das’ bank locker.
later, the special squad had arrested Das’ father-in-law and wife from the city for hiding idols and articles. The Karnataka police had taken the duo on transit remand to interrogate about Das’ whereabouts. The burglary had taken place at around 1:10 am on July 6 by a few unidentified thieves who stole 15 idols, some gold studded with diamonds and precious gems from the Jain shrine in Mangalore. The idols like Bahubali in a sitting position and a few others are said to be rare in the world. Many of the priceless idols were that of Jain Tirthankaras, the police said.