The Krishna police have arrested two persons who allegedly burgled four temples in the district. The accused have been identified as P. Brahmanandam of Mopidevi in Krishna district and Sk. Hameed of Kothapeta in Guntur district.

They recovered gold and silver ornaments valued about ₹16.05 lakh from their possession. A car believed to have been used for the crimes and a silver melting machine was also seized from them.

The accused had struck Sri Alivelu Manga Rajyalakshmi Sametha Venkateswara Swamy temple at Puligadda, Saibaba temple in Avanigadda mandal, Srimannarayana Swamy temple at Ullipalem in Koduru mandal and Sri Bala Parvathi Sametha Rameswaraswamy Vaarla Devastanam at Tekupalli in Mopidevi mandal over the last three years, the SP said at a press conference here on Thursday (February 6).

The accused were arrested by a team led by Avanigadda Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) T. Vidyasree and Avanigadda Circle Inspector G. Yuva Kumar.

The modus operandi of the accused was to conduct ‘recce’, identify the temples that have no proper security at nights, break the locks and steal the gold and silver ornaments, Mr. Gangadhar Rao said.

“Investigating officers checked CCTV camera footage, tracked the movements of the accused and apprehended them,” the SP said and lauded the officers.