Idol theft: 2 sisters arrested within 48 hours in Telangana

Hyderabad: A special team from SR Nagar police solved a case of theft of two Panchaloha idols within 48 hours, arresting two sisters and recovering the stolen idols worth approximately Rs 5 lakh on Tuesday. According to west zone DCP S.M. Vijay Kumar, the SR Nagar police recovered the idols from Sri Vinayaka temple, Gurumurthy Nagar, SR Nagar.

On March 8, Salimadugu Narender Reddy, 56, executive officer of the endowments department at Vinayaka temple, lodged a complaint stating that a Shiva idol and a Parvati Devi idol were missing from the temple’s garbhagudi, said SR Nagar ACP P. Venkata Ramana.

"We acted swiftly, formed special teams and initiated an investigation. With meticulous efforts, we identified two female suspects through CCTV footage from the temple and surrounding areas," said ACP Ramana. The suspects, Adidala Swarna Latha, 29, and J. Pavani, 26, residents of NBT Nagar, Road No. 1, Banjara Hills, were arrested at 10.15 am on Tuesday, and the stolen idols were recovered, he said.

Police sources revealed that Swarna Latha had faced multiple personal tragedies. In November 2018, her brother died due to health issues. In January 2019, her nephew died by suicide. In May 2019, her sister’s husband succumbed to Covid-19 and in the same month, her father passed away due to health issues. Later, her husband died in a road accident.

Distressed by these events, Swarna Latha consulted a pujari, who advised her to install and worship idols for better fortune. Unable to afford them, she began searching for temples where stealing idols would be easy. She shared her plan with her sister, J. Pavani, who agreed to help, police sources said.

The ACP urged the temple managements to take precautionary measures such as installing CCTV cameras, restricting unauthorised access, conducting frequent inspections, verifying staff backgrounds and reporting any suspicious activity to the police without delay.