2 arrested for theft of Astadhatu idols

Puri: In a major crackdown, the district police arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in stealing Astadhatu statues from different temples in the State.

The accused had stolen idols from Gop, Nischintakoili and Nilagiri areas. After receiving a complaint regarding theft of statues, Puri police had formed a special team to nab the miscreants.

Addressing a presser, Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi informed that the accused used to steal statues and later disposed them in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at higher rates. So far, two statuses have been recovered from the possession of the robbers.

“We will send a special team to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to recover other statues which have been stolen from other places,” Sarangi added.