Prakasam police officials arrested a three-member inter-State gang reportedly involved in several temple thefts under J. Panguluru Police Station limits and recovered cash, gold jewellery and other valuables worth approximately ₹4.70 lakh.

Lauding the police officers and staff for their efforts in cracking the case, Superintendent of Police V. Harshavardhan Raju revealed the case details to the media at the district police office in Ongole on Saturday.

According to the SP, the accused were identified as Aniket Kailas Kasarode, Sunil Devarao, and Manish Gopal Vadive from Shahpur village of Amravati district in Maharashtra. The three formed a gang and allegedly started committing thefts at temples, he added.

On April 1, 2026, they broke the locks of Sri Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple in Ramakur village of J. Panguluru mandal and stole nearly 7 kg of silver and 19 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹3.5 lakh. Later that night, they moved towards Ongole and broke open the locks of Trishakti Peetham temple in Renangivaram village and stole silver crowns weighing nearly 2 kg from three deities in the sanctum.

Using technology and evidence collected from the crime scene, the trio were arrested by Addanki Rural Circle Inspector D. Mallikarjuna Rao from the fields near Singarakonda Anjaneyaswamy temple in Addanki mandal on Saturday.

During the investigation, they also confessed to stealing silver and gold ornaments from Sri Krishna temple near the highway in Madanapalle town on February 23, 2026.