Inchara Udupi
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (DV)

Udupi, Apr 14: Police on Sunday April  arrested two persons for robbing people, especially churchgoers in Shirva and various parts of Karkala over the past two years.

The arrested are Raviraj Devadiga (28) and Prakash Devadiga (32), residents of Heroor.

Police also seized 150 gm of gold, two bikes, and an Omni car which had been used for the thefts. The seized stolen property is estimated to be worth about Rs 7 lac.

In 2012, the duo had committed thefts in Belanjalu-Hadi Road under Shirva police limits, near Pathonjikatte under Karkala town police limits, Pilaru-Pernalu near Adivasi Shikshana Kendra, near Shirva Church, and Kuthiyar-Thotlaguri road. Recently, they also snatched chains from senior citizens returning from church.

Both thieves had targeted women returning from church after worship. During the investigation they also revealed that this was true in five out of six instances.

In order to trace the culprits, the police had formed three teams in Udupi, Mangalore, and Shimoga. As per information from the RTO, a stolen bike was also traced which helped nab the culprits.

Raviraj and Prakash worked as electricians and coolies.

As per the guidance of Karkala assistant division ASP Annamalai, Karkala circle inspector Sunil Nayak, and Shirva station inspector Ashok, Suresh, Vishwajith, Dharnappa, Rajkumar, Shridhar, Jagadish, Ravi, Annappa, and Bhaskar participated in the operation.