Bengaluru: Three members of a notorious inter-state gang, involved in vehicle thefts and church robberies in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala, have been arrested by the Bommanahalli police.

Six four-wheelers worth Rs 40 lakh, Rs 2.5 lakh in cash and gold jewellery have been recovered from the accused. With the arrest of the gang, the police claim to have solved the robberies at the famous Velankanni Church in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu and three other prominent churches in Kerala.

The accused have been identified as Alex alias Surya alias Murali (29) from Ernakulam in Kerala, J. Jayaprakash alias JP (35), from Madurai district in Tamil Nadu, and Sujoy (35) from Kannur district in Kerala. The accused were wanted in a number of cases registered at Madiwala, Mico Layout, Ramamurthy Nagar, Bommanahalli and Hulimavu police stations in Bengaluru and Palamaner police station in Andhra Pradesh.

As the number of vehicle theft cases had seen a spurt in the city, the police had intensified the search for vehicle thieves. Based on a tipoff, they managed to arrest the trio who, according to the police, were involved in stealing four-wheelers in all Southern states, besides committing robberies at houses and churches.The police said that the trio had a small garage in Tamil Nadu, where they dismantled the stolen vehicles and sold the parts.

Trio formed gang at Parappana Agrahara Jail
Separated by boundaries, the trio had one thing in common – their occupation – which eventually brought them closer and helped them form a gang. The accused, according to the police, got acquainted at Parappana Agrahara Jail between August and November 2016 when they were serving their terms for thefts and robberies. From then, they started working together.

Alex was involved in many house burglaries in Bengaluru and had been arrested. “He came to Bengaluru first in 2011 in to get his friend treated for cancer at Kidwai Hospital. He settled down here and started committing robberies at houses,” the police said.

Velankanni Church robbery solved
The robbery at Velankanni Church occurred in the early hours of January 31. Alex had barged into the rector’s office by cutting the grills of the window and decamped with Rs 1.25 lakh cash and 60 gm gold ornaments that were donated by the devotees to the church.

Though it was captured on CCTV cameras, the Nagapattinam police were yet to make headway in the case. After their arrest, Alex spilled the beans on the robbery at the church.