Gang held for stealing silver from Jain temple in Bengaluru

Police have arrested four men who allegedly came from Rajasthan to carry out a heist of silver ornaments from a Jain temple in Ashoknagar on September 9.

The suspects have been identified as Praveen, Goma, Joshi Ram, and Rajendra. Two other suspects are on the run, according to the police. The heist was executed so efficiently that they completed the operation within a matter of minutes, the police said.

“The gang covered their faces with cloth and defaced the CCTV. Soon they broke open the rear door and entered the temple. The suspect's group spread out and stole the ornaments within a span of a few minutes and fled the location,” an officer told DH.

They took an auto to Majestic, boarded a bus to Yeshwantpur, and finally, a KSRTC bus to Tumakuru. They took a train back to Rajasthan, the police said. The police reviewed the temple's surveillance footage. According to law enforcement, one suspect had spent a considerable amount of time inside the temple while working on a renovation project. "The suspect had noticed the ornaments and had planned the theft. He had noted the entry and exit points and had a blueprint of the layout," the police said. The suspect then shared the plan with his friends, who assisted in carrying out the theft.