Andhra: Six held for stealing money from temples' donation boxes

Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], September 28 : Six members of a gang have been arrested by the Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram district police for stealing money from donation boxes of temples.
The arrested persons have been identified as M Nagarjuna, T Veera Babu, M Dhanaraju, Ch Sai, A Chiranjeevi, and G Eswar Rao, residents of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts.
Speaking during the press conference, KV Ranga Rao, Deputy Inspector General of Visakhapatnam range here on Sunday, said that during the interrogation the gang members confessed to the crime.
Informing about the incident, he said that on September 23, the gang had stolen a donation box containing cash and some valuables from a temple at Jammu village in Vizianagaram district. They had also attempted to steal the collection box of a temple at Dasannapeta in Vizianagaram district.
Following complaints from the local people, the Vizianagaram Police had formed a special team to nab the culprits.
The gang was involved in the robbery of over 10 temples in the two districts in the past few months. All the gang members are habitual offenders and have been involved in property offences in the region, he said.
The police recovered Rs 21,000 from the gang, he added.