Man who used stolen gold to build statues of dad, brother held

The city police have arrested three people from Gujarat in a theft case. The three are Talpad Navagan, 50, and his associates Rajesh and Mitesh. Navagan had made the statues of his father and brother using stolen gold and silver ornaments, the police said.

Everyone in Navagan’s family -- his wife, his father and his brother were involved in thefts, police said.

They were arrested by the Gujarat police in 2005. Navagan’s brother and father died after he came out of jail. Navagan moved to Bengaluru to evade action by the Gujarat police and settled down at Hosakerehalli. He had brought Rajesh and Mithesh with him.

He made a four-foot-tall statue of his brother and father. He had spent around Rs 1 crore to install the idol and construct a temple in Gujarat.

He would often go to Gujarat and visit the temple and offer puja to those idols, added the police.Navagan launched a company and named it Pappa and constructed four big bungalows. He had an earthmover and stone crusher machine.

He would use gloves while committing the crimes and hence his crimes went unnoticed. He committed a theft in Vijayanagar recently and his movements were captured by a CCTV camera. The police detained him based on the CCTV footage.

Police said he tried to assault sub-inspector Rupa when he was being arrested.