PUNE: One and half years after the gold-plated ‘kalash’ of the Ekvira Devi temple, Karla caves, was stolen, officials from the Pune rural police local crime branch (LCB) have arrested two persons and recovered the Kalash. The theft had taken place on October 3, 2017.
Police have arrested Rahul Bhagwat Gawande (24) and Somnath Ashok Gawande (24), both residents of Dhamangaon Avari in Akole taluka of Ahmednagar district. They have been remanded to two days police custody.
Superintendent of Police (Pune rural) Sandip Patil said, “The case was being probed by the State CID as our team had earlier failed to make any breakthrough. Now we will hand over the two accused to the CID.” According to police, the accused persons had heard about gold ‘kalash’ of the temple and made a plan to steal it.
The accused had gone to the temple for pilgrimage. There was some repair work going on, hence a ladder was put up. The accused persons decamped with the ‘kalash’ worth Rs one lakh and fled. Later they realised it has only gold plating, hence they had hidden it in jungle. After getting a tip-off from informers in Ahmednagar district, police nabbed the duo.
Investigation team included Local Crime Branch Inspector Padmakar Ghanwat, PSI Jeevan Rajguru, ASI Vijay Patil, Dattatray Jagtap, head constables Prakash Waghmare, Sharad Bamble, Sachin Gaikwad, Police Naik Ganesh Mahadik, Rauf Inamdar, Chandrashekhar Magar, and Akshay Javle.
