good news

[Guest guest]

>From the Hindu (Feb. 8)

 

The city police today arrested the elusive temple burglar and recovered

from him the entire jewellery stolen from the Sri Vedanta Desikar temple,

Mylapore, and a portion of the ornaments lifted from four other temples.

The culprit, Vardharaji Sathyamurthy (33) of Jayapuram, had been operating

for the past six years and had struck at five temples.

 

His first operation was at Andal temple, Srirangam (1991) followed by

Rajagoplaswamy temple, Mannargudi (1992), Eerikatha Ramar temple,

Maduranthagam, Sarangapani temple, Kumbakonam (1995) and the recent

case.

 

The lure for a lavish lifestyle had made him to take to temple burglary.

After some training in a film institute and a short stint in the tinsel

world, he formed a musical and drama troupe which was sponsored with the

money got after disposing of the stolen jewellery. He even bought a few

acres of land and also constructed a Mariamman and Perumal temple in his

village. He contested for the local Panchayat President post and lost

narrowly. HE had filed a case in this connection. Describing the modus

operandi, the Director General of Police Mr. K. K. Rajasekaran Nair told

mediapersons that the small-time actor would survey the temple at least

15 times before embarking on his mission.

 

The police picked up Sathyamurthy on information that he had a lavish

lifestyle and that he was in possession of some valuable jewels. On

interrogation, he confessed to the crimes.

 

The culprit who had been operating for the past five years was arrested

within 20 days of the Mylapore temple theft. He had sold some of the

diamonds in Mumbai and the jewels in different parts of the State.

 

While fingerprints had been obtained in the earlier cases, in the Mylapore

case there were no ``foreign prints''. The needle of suspicion pointed to

one person as police investigation established that all the cases of temple

theft had occurred in the same pattern. Moreover, a portrait drawn of the

suspected accused after the Kumbakonam temple burglary based on the information

given by those who had seen him, was identified by the priests in all the five

temples as the culprit. When Sathyamurthy was picked up he confessed to his

involvement in the crime, leading to the recovery of the jewellery.

 

It was stated that Sathyamurthy had lost faith in Lord Shiva as his drama

troupe did not take off; he then became an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu.

He had even decorated some of the stolen jewels on the Perumal idol in his

house. He has named his two sons as Parthasarathy and Vishnuvaradan. The

City Police Commissioner, Mr. V. K. Rajagopalan, said that DCP (Adyar)

Mr.A.M.S. Gunaseelan and Mylapore ACP (Crime) Mr. Palani were instrumental

in detecting the case.