A series of temple thefts, house-breakings and stolen silver ornaments across Nirmal district ended in a breakthrough with the police arresting four persons, who are allegedly involved in 25 theft cases.

The accused were identified as Marepeddi Rajashekhar, 28, Gadchanda Rajeshwar, 26, Kalgaddawar Srikanth, 22, and Sara Saikiran, 30. Police recovered stolen property linked to 16 of the cases, including 12 kg of silver ornaments, temple crowns, cash and other articles.

The arrests were made by the ‘Tigers Task Force’, formed by Nirmal SP G. Janaki Sharmila to curb thefts in the district. Police said the team pieced together the cases by analysing CCTV footage, technical evidence, the suspects’ movements and details of previous offences.

Several of the thefts involved temples, from where the accused stole silver crowns and other religious articles, said the SP. Among the recoveries were the main deity’s crown, a processional deity’s silver crown and a Vinayaka crown from an Ayyappa temple.

“At the Shastrinagar Anjaneyaswamy temple, we recovered a silver crown, a Vinayaka crown, the deity’s trunk and ears and a silver necklace. A 1 kg crown was recovered from a Venkateswara Swamy temple in Mamada,” explained the officer.

Other recoveries included silver padukas, a plate, necklace, waist chain, bangles, lamps and other articles from different locations. Police also recovered 1,500 gm of silver bars from A.N. Reddy Colony and 10 tolas of silver bars from Vadyal village.

The trail also extended into Andhra Pradesh, with 500 gm of silver bars recovered in a case under Eluru III Town police station limits and another 200 gm from a case under Gannavaram police station limits.

Apart from the stolen property, the police seized a Nissan Magnite car, a silver-melting machine, a gas pipe machine and ₹67,000 in cash.

Police said stolen property has so far been recovered in 16 of the 25 cases and the investigation into the remaining cases is continuing.

Police said surveillance through the Tigers Task Force would continue to prevent thefts targeting temples, houses and shops.