Erode:
A father and his teenaged daughter have been arrested for reportedly stealing Rs one crore worth of gold chains of deities from 120 temples across Tamil Nadu over a period of time, police said.
The arrests followed investigations into a complaint that the duo had stolen a gold chain from a temple at Sivagiri village, about 40 from here recently, they said.
The duo were arrested last night at the village while riding a two wheeler and 250 grams of gold chains stolen from some temples seized from them.
Explaining their modus operandi, police said they used to visit temples on the outskirts of towns or villages, ask for poojas to be performed and also for their two-wheeler. As the priest came out to conduct it,the girl would enter the sanctum sanctorum, grab the gold chain of the deity and soon leave the place with her father.
Police said both of them had been operating in Salem, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri towns and some other places.