PONDA: The Ponda police have arrested an Odisha native and have finally cracked the Mahaganapati Devasthan Khandola temple theft case reported earlier this year.
It may be recalled that on August 17 this year, a major theft occurred at Mahaganapati temple at Khandola wherein a gold plated crown, other gold plated and silver objects and Rs 6 lakh were stolen.
According to Ponda DySP CL Patil, the accused has been identified as Santosh Kumar Das, 42 from Odisha. He said the accused is a history sheeter and involved in many temple theft cases in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. In 2009-10, he was involved in temple theft case at Mapusa. He used to hire taxis to visit the temple and steal gold ornaments. Police had taken the statement of the Panjim based car driver who had dropped him at the Khandola temple.
After Khandola, Das was also involved in theft cases at Panjim and Porvorim following which the Panjim police arrested and handed him over to Ponda police.
