TIRUPATI: Finally, the Srikalahasti temple idol installation case has been put to rest. In just 12 days, Tirupati police on Tuesday nabbed three accused for installing a Shivalingam and the Lord’s carrier Nandi on the temple premises on September 11.

The accused have been identified as Pindi Sulavardhan (32), Pindi Tirumalaiah (30) and Pindi Munisekhar (28) of Puttur town in Chittoor district, as reported by TNIE.

The temple's executive officer C Chandrasekhar Reddy had filed a complaint with Srikalahasti One Town police after they saw the unauthorised installations. Police then registered a case and Urban Superintendent of Police (SP) Avula Ramesh Reddy formed special teams to arrest the culprits.

Based on CCTV footage, police said that on September 6, they found that three men were suspiciously moving outside the temple and tracked them through their mobile data.

Ramesh Reddy said that the Tirumalaiah and Munisekhar had visited an astrologer, who advised them to install the idols for good fortune. They then made the idol from a maker at Rajeev Colony in Tirupati on September 2 and paid him Rs Rs 4,000 for the Shivalingam and Rs 3,000 for the Nandi idol. Later, sneakily, they had placed the idols in the premises, he said.