On Monday (2nd December), the Ahmedabad city crime branch arrested Mohammed Aminoor Pathan alias Bhayankar Mannankhan Pathan and Yasin Kalam Shaikh, for stealing traditional five-metal alloy idols and silver idols from the Shantinath Jain Derasar in Nemnagar, Bilimora. Both the accused are residents of Shah-e-Alam and originally from West Bengal.
The police said that during the initial interrogation, the accused Aminoor and Yasin admitted to involvement in seven such thefts from temples and Derasars across Gujarat. It also turned out that their accomplice, Ahesamuddin Shaikh, had escaped to Kolkata. Acting on this information, crime branch authorities notified the Kolkata Railway Protection Force (RPF), and the accused were arrested.
According to ACP Bharat Patel, the accused was found in possession of stolen things valued at around Rs 7.01 lakh, which included two silver bricks, cash, a religious idol, and silver lamps. Pathan and Shaikh had 16 complaints filed against them between 2018 and 2013. Patel added that the accused committed thefts in other areas, including the Jain temple in Bilimora wherein the accused stole cash, silver and panchdhatu (five-metal) idols. Meanwhile, investigations are underway to ascertain whether any of the accused crossed the border from Kolkata into Bangladesh to sell the stolen idols.
“The crime branch had been working on the case and apprehended two accused, originally hailing from West Bengal. They used to target temples because, at night, fewer people were present. They would disguise themselves while conducting recce. One of the suspects fled Ahmedabad with a statue but was apprehended by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Kolkata,” ACP Patel said.
The accused were apprehended near Chandola, Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad crime branch seized many things, including two silver idols weighing 4.785 kg and priced at Rs 3.65 lakh, one panchdhatu idol weighing roughly 1 kg and valued at Rs 4,000, a German silver aarti worth Rs 1,000, and Rs 3.21 lakh cash.
