Ekvira temple spire stolen in 2017 found; two arrested

The police Tuesday claimed to have cracked the case of spire stolen from the Ekvira temple more than one-and-a-half years ago with the arrest of two persons from the adjoining Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.

The gold-coated spire of the Ekvira temple located near Karla caves in Lonavala, a hill station about 65km from Pune city, was stolen on October 3, 2017.

The Ekvira goddess is the family deity of the Shiv Sena's Thackeray family and after the spire was stolen,the issue was raised in the state assembly also.

The state government had asked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the case.

While the CID was investigating the case, the Pune rural police continued their own investigation and arrested two persons from Ahmednagar district Tuesday.

Rahul Gawande and Somnath Gawade, both aged 23, were apprehended from Dhamangaon village under Akole tehsil of Ahmednagar district, the police said.

According to the police, the duo had come to take part in the annual gathering of the temple when they stole the spire.

Sandip Patil, Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural), said, "During the annual gathering, the duo heard a devotional song describing the gold spire at the Ekvira goddess's temple which brought their attention towards it. On the same night, they decided to steal the spire."