Temple theft case: police custody of main accused extended

A court in Udupi district has extended the police custody of the main accused in the theft case at Sri Mookambika temple to four more days to enable the police to carry out further investigation.
The case relates to the theft of ornaments worth around Rs 90 lakh from the temple.
Shivaram Madiwala, an employee of the temple who was arrested on February 23, was being interrogated by the police in custody to find out whether others, including senior officials of the temple, had any role in the case.
The ornaments were recovered from various banks and financial institutions.
Four others in the case, Gangadhar Hegde, Prasad Achar, Nagaraj Sheregar and Ganesh Poojary, would be in judicial remand at the Hiriadka prison in Udupi till March 19.

Udupi district Superintendent of Police Annamalai, who had been monitoring the case, handed over the charge of further investigation to Deputy Superintendent of Police Manjunath Shetty, police said.