Hyderabad: 3 recovered crowns melted for their gold

Tirupati: Two months after they were stolen, the three gold crowns belonging to the deities of the Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati were recovered by the Tirupati Urban police. It now turns out that the crowns were melted for their gold.

Disclosing the details of the recovery, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal told mediapersons on Monday that the Tirupati Urban police wing nabbed the accused behind the theft at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai.

“'The accused confessed to the crime. Based on this, the gold was recovered from Maharashtra and is in the custody of the Tirupati police now. Though the recovered gold is not in the form of crowns, the equivalent gold weighing around 1,351 grams has been recovered,” he added.

It is learnt that the accused, Aakash Pratap, had melted the crowns before the police could get to him.

Mr added that the TTD would get three new golden crowns for the processional deities at the Govindaraja Swamy temple from where the crowns were stolen.