Priests rob valuables from house using duplicate key

Two priests were arrested for robbing gold valuables from a house in Srirampura using a duplicate key. The police recovered 200 grams of gold valuables worth Rs 8 lakh from them.

The Sampigehalli police arrested Nagaraj (42), a resident of Chikkaballapur, and Lakshman (38), a resident of Srirampura.

They were arrested following a complaint filed by Pavan Gowda, who is living with his mother in Srirampura and is searching for a job. Accused Lakshmana was a priest at a temple near their house. He would visit their house to perform puja and other rituals.

Recently Lakshmana had taken Nagaraj along with him to perform a puja at Pavan’s house. They both then hatched a plan to rob the house.

Lakshmana used to take Pavan’s car whenever he needed, and there was a house key along with the car key. Noticing this, he got a duplicate key made, a senior police officer said.

On October 17, when Pavan’s family was out to visit Dharmasthala, Lakshmana and Nagaraj entered the house using the duplicate key. But they could get only 200 grams of jewellery as the family had deposited the valuables in a bank safe locker, a day before leaving to Dharmasthala, the officer added.

When the family returned, they found the house ransacked and filed a complaint with the Sampigehalli police.

The police noticed that there was no forced entry inside the house. They tracked the mobile tower location and zeroed in on Nagaraj.

After questioning him, the duo confessed to their crime. The police recovered gold valuables, and both were remanded in judicial custody.