Pune: Yerawada Police Nab Gang Behind Rs 2 Lakh Theft from Historic Tarkeshwar Mahadev Temple

Pune: The Yerawada police arrested a gang that broke six donation boxes and stole Rs 2 lakh from the historic Pandav-era Tarkeshwar Mahadev temple in Yerawada. While investigating this crime, the Yerawada police examined nearly 200 CCTV cameras from Pune to Ahilyanagar to detain the accused.

The arrested accused have been identified as Swaroop Rajesh Chopde (age 21), a resident of Manjari Budruk, an original native of Nagpur, and Atharva Watkar. Subsequently, police recovered the stolen amount of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 thousand and the stolen motorcycle from them.

In this case, Sudhir Vasantrao Wambure (age 67), a resident of Shani Mandir, Yerawada, filed a police complaint. As per the complaint, thieves broke the lock of the main door of the Tarakeshwar temple on June 4, 2024, between 1:30 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. and entered the temple. The miscreants broke six steel donation boxes in the temple and stole nearly 2 lakh rupees in cash.

Notably, this issue was also raised in the state assembly during the monsoon session.

After this, the police officers and staff of the investigation team examined nearly 200 CCTV footages from Pune to Ahilyanagar in Ahmednagar. By conducting an in-depth technical analysis of the footage, Police Constable Kiran Ghute identified the accused. Among these accused, Swaroop Chopde was detained at Pune Railway Station on August 4.

During the subsequent interrogation, the accused, Chopde, confessed his involvement in the crime along with Rajan Patel, Akshay Shahu, Atharva Watkar, and Amit Sheria, all residents of Nagpur. The police informed that the motorcycle seized from the accused was stolen by them from the Chandan Nagar area.

This action was taken by the team of Police Sub-Inspector Swapnil Patil, Constable Datta Shinde, Tushar Kharade, Kiran Ghute, Police Ammaldar Sagar Jagdale, Pravin Khatmode, Anil Shinde, Suraj Ombase, Dattatray Shinde, Prashant Kamble, Sushant Bhosle, Vitthal Ghule, and Vishal Nilakh, under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijaykumar Magar, Deputy Commissioner of Police Himmat Jadhav, Assistant Commissioner of Police Pranjali Sonawane, Senior Police Inspector Ravindra Shelke, Police Inspector Chhagan Kapse, and Police Inspector Pallavi Mehare.