Days after Andhra Pradesh DGP Gautam Sawang’s statement that several criminal gangs were involved in temple crimes in the hunt for treasures, the Chittoor police claimed to have busted an interstate gang for vandalizing a Nandi idol inside Sri Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Temple at Agara Mangalam village in GD Nellore Mandal of Chittoor district.
The Chittoor police had formed three special teams to investigate the crime.

On Wednesday, Chittoor SP S Senthil Kumar said the gang comprising eight criminals vandalized the Nandi idol supposedly looking for hidden treasures such as gold and pearls below the idol. The criminals, according to the SP, believed that gold was hidden under the Nandi idol. The culprits, then, shifted the Nandi idol behind the temple and broke it apart. Of the eight arrested, six criminals hail from Karnataka and two from Andhra Pradesh. The police seized two vehicles from the arrested.

Opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party have alleged that many such idols have been desecrated or stolen from temples, claiming these are targeted attacks. There have been as many as 19 incidents, but DGP Gautam Sawang said there is no common thread between them.

The Andhra Pradesh police came under sharp criticism for its failure to crack the two temple related crimes – Antarvedi chariot burning in Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy in East Godavari and the missing of three silver lion statues from Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada. Sawang claimed that these crimes from different temples across the state were isolated and not linked in any way. He stated several gangs were hunting for treasures supposedly hidden under idols. He had also claimed that 12 of the 19 temple attack cases since the Antarvedi Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple chariot blaze had been cracked.