“Prem Singh, the watchman who is among the nine persons absconding, was also wanted in a robbery case in Mumbai”
Six persons, all of them Nepal nationals, were arrested and remanded to custody on Sunday in connection with the murder of a priest and robbery in a Jain temple in Sowcarpet on May 28. Police are searching for nine other persons.
Four of the six arrested, including a woman, were said to be ‘receivers’ of the stolen property. A total of 9.225 kg of gold items, worth about Rs.1.20 crore, was recovered from them.
Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran, who briefed mediapersons on Monday, said that all those involved in the crime were related to one another. The man who plotted the crime, a resident of Phoolwari village in Kailali district of Nepal, is absconding.
Police said Bhadur Singh alias Kallani Bahadur had been appointed watchman at the temple around two-and-half years ago. On May 12 he left for Nepal, stating that a relative was ill. He recommended Prem Singh, a person from his village, for the post. On the day of the incident, 11 persons entered the temple at different points in time just before it was closed for the day. While nine of the accused hid in the watchman’s room inside the temple, two others stood guard outside the temple.
Around 1 a.m., the accused attacked and tied up the priests, Himmatmal and Bharat Singh, who were sleeping on the first floor, broke open the store room and stole the jewellery. They returned to the watchman’s room and divided the booty into three parts.
While Himmatmal died following the attack, Mr. Bharat Singh raised an alarm by knocking on the wooden door, which awakened his mother and nephew living on the ground floor. On hearing the alarm, the gang fled leaving behind a part of the jewellery.Breakthrough
Police said a breakthrough was achieved when they arrested Ram Singh alias Ram Bahadhur Kohli and Suraj at the Rasappa Chetty Street-Walltax Road junction on Sunday.
Based on the information given by them, the police apprehended Ram Singh’s wife Seethadevi, Sher Bahadur, Ramesh and Amar from Semmenchery in Thoraipakkam.
Interrogation of the arrested persons revealed that Bahadur had conspired to steal the jewellery for nearly six months and had introduced several of his relatives to businessmen in the area and in other parts of the city.
The city police formed nine special teams that have been sent to Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Nepal, Mr. Rajendran added.
Efforts are on to arrest Bahadur with the aid of the Indian embassy in Nepal.
Police believe that the arrest of the others would provide them information about the rest of the stolen valuables.
The Commissioner said that Prem Singh, the watchman who is among the nine persons absconding, was also wanted in a robbery case in Mumbai.
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