Hanuman Idol Stolen From Tirumala Ghat Road Recovered In 15 Hours, Accused Arrested
Police arrested a man within 15 hours of the theft of a Hanuman idol from a temple on Tirumala ghat road and recovered the idol.
Published : July 23, 2026 at 6:01 PM IST
Tirumala: Police have arrested a man accused of stealing a small Hanuman idol from the Prasanna Anjaneya Swamy Temple on the Tirumala first ghat road and recovered the idol within 15 hours of the incident, officials said.
The theft took place around 3 AM on Wednesday at the temple located near the seventh-mile point on the Tirumala first ghat road and the Alipiri footpath. The small stone idol, installed beneath the main deity by devotees in 2000, was allegedly removed by a man dressed in ‘Govinda Mala’ attire, who wrapped it in a cloth before fleeing, police said.
The incident was caught on CCTV cameras, following which the Tirupati district police and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Vigilance Department formed 10 special teams to trace the accused.
During the search operation, police tracked the suspect’s movements and found that he was travelling on the Howrah Express. Railway Police arrested him at Ongole railway station and recovered the idol of the deity. He was identified as Jashwant Kumar from Visakhapatnam. SP Subbarayudu commended the special teams for arresting the accused within just 15 hours of the incident.
Tirupati Superintendent of Police V. Subbarayudu commended the special investigation teams for solving the case within 15 hours. State Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy praised the Tirupati district police, TTD Vigilance officials and the investigation teams for recovering the idol and arresting the accused within 24 hours using CCTV footage and technical evidence.
The minister said the TTD Vigilance team played a key role in identifying the suspect by tracing his movements, travel details and phone records before sharing the information with the police.
He said the state government would not tolerate acts of sacrilege at temples and warned of strict legal action against those involved in such offences. The minister also said directions had been issued to strengthen security and surveillance systems at Tirumala and other major temples, sub-temples and ghat roads across the state to prevent similar incidents in the future.
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