Stolen items from temple recovered in Bhubaneswar

Also 1.5 kg gold ingots, gem stones and Rs 2 lakh in cash were seized from a house at Chandrasekharpur here, the sources said.

The recovery was valued at Rs 3 crore, they said.

"We have seized three idols and some gold ingots. The gold ingots were made after melting some idols," the sources said.

The Bhubaneswar commissionerate of police helped its Mangalore counterpart in recovering the stolen items from the house of the father-in-law of Santosh Das, alias Ghanshyam Das, a peon in the state secretariat, who was absconding.

"Recovery of the stolen idols from Das's father-in-law house has proved his involvement in the crime," a member of the Karnataka police team said.

The police of both states did not divulge how they came to know about Das's involvement in the theft.

The temples CCTV camera had recorded a masked man in in a black jacket entering the premises.

At least 15 idols made of gold encrusted with pearls, precious stones and diamonds, were stolen on July 5 night from Siddantha Mandir of Guru Basadi in Moodbidri, locally known as 'Jain Kashi'.