Jagatsinghpur: Police arrested four members of a family – three siblings and their mother – for their involvement in a series of antique idol thefts and seized a large number of brass idols and items from their possession, informed Jagatsinghpur SP Bhawani Shankar Udgata at a press conference held at the district police office Sunday.
The three arrested brothers have been identified as Sarada Prasad Acharya, 38, Barada Prasad Acharya alias Raja, 29, and Annada Prasad Acharya alias Bindha, 25. According to information received, the police were under pressure due to frequent thefts of antique idols and brass articles from various temples in Jagatsinghpur and other districts. Acting on a tip-off, police first arrested Sarada from Salajang Malitota under Jagatsinghpur police station and after further investigation, the mystery surrounding the thefts began to unravel.
The involvement of Sarada’s two younger brothers in the temple thefts has also come to light. The two younger brothers used to reside in another house at Chadheigaon near Malitota. It has also been revealed through the investigation that their mother, who lived with Sarada in Malitota, was involved in hiding the stolen items. Both Sarada and his mother were arrested by the Jagatsinghpur police and were presented in court Sunday. Meanwhile, Barada and Annada were arrested by the Balianta police under the Cuttack Bhubaneswar Commissionerate Police in connection with case number 432/24. Following the arrest of all three brothers and their mother, a large number of brass idols and items were seized. These included brass idols of Mahavir, Ram-Sita, Jagannath, bells, lamps, stands, and various temple utensils, along with household items like gas cylinders, stoves, and kitchenware.
Additionally, weapons such as swords, axes, cleavers, and chains were also seized. During the press conference, the SP stated that efforts would be intensified to prevent thefts, dacoity, looting, and other crimes in the future. District-wide operations would be strengthened, and all efforts would be made to restore public trust in law enforcement. Present at the press conference were Additional SP Amarendra Panda, Jagatsinghpur SDPO Rashmirekha Sahu, Jagatsinghpur IIC Gokul Ranjan Dash, along with Additional IIC Tapan Kumar Nahak and Investigating Officer ASI Biswajit Bardhan.