Mangalore, August 6, 2013: Mangalore police have arrested Sandeep Sancheti, a resident of Chhattisgarh, in connection with the theft of precious idols from Guru Basadi in Moodbidri. With this the police have arrested four persons in connection with the theft.

The police said prime accused Santosh Das had said that seven of the 15 idols stolen from Guru Basadi were given to Sandeep Sancheti, who runs a jewellery shop in Chhattisgarh. The police said there was evidence to show that Das had visited the shop. The seven idols are yet to be recovered.

The police said Sancheti (47) was arrested and produced before the jurisdictional magistrate in Chhattisgarh on Monday morning. The police have been allowed custody of Sancheti for nine days.

The idols were stolen from the Siddhanta Darshan block of the Guru Basadi in Moodbidri on July 5. The police raided the house of Das’s father in law Digambar Mohanty in Bhubaneshwar and recovered three idols and some gold ingots made by melting five gold idols. Apart from Digambar Mohanty, the police have arrested Santosh Das and his wife Diptimayee Mohanty. Police had taken Santosh Das to Chhattisgarh for nine days to find the person who had received the stolen idols. The police have taken statement of the person who has melted five gold idols.

Source: The Hindu, August 6, 2013