Former priest held for theft

Police have arrested a 22-year-old man who had worked as a priest in a Jain temple in Khadki for alleged theft of 8.5 kg of silver ornaments worth Rs 4.8 lakh from the temple sanctum. The arrest and recovery of the booty was done in two hours after the the theft,police said.

Khadki police have identified the suspect as Arjunsinh Rajput alias Shivpratap,who hails from Babda Kimwadi in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. Theft of silver ornaments from Munisurat Swami Bhagwan Jain Temple was reported by the priest at the police station on Saturday morning. DCP Sanjay Jadhav visited the spot along with other senior officials. Senior inspector Bhimrao said,“We had tip off that someone earlier had worked as a priest with the temple may be involved. Based on the information,we launched a search for Arjunsinh and arrested him within an hour.” Police said the suspect had earlier worked with the temple and few months back had left the place. “After him,a person named Vinod started working as a priest. For the last few weeks,Arjunsinh and his younger brother had come to stay with Vinod ,” police said. He had kept the ornaments in the room in a way no one could locate. We have recovered all the booty from him.