RAMACHANDRAPURAM: Police on Saturday arrested fifteen people in connection to the recent theft of a 1000-kg ''Nandi'' idol from an ancient Shiva temple in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.

The 15 culprites arrested in link with theft of the granite idol from the 400-year old Agastheswara Swamy temple in Ramachandrapuram on the night of January 24.

The people who got arrested had stolen the granite idol believing rumours that diamonds were in it. They had taken the idol to the banks of a canal in the district and dismantled it, but found no precious stones.

Circle Inspector Siva Ganesh said, “It was suspected that more people were involved in the theft.”  He further said that they  formed teams and launched a through inquiry. They collected information from locals and obtained clues that led to the arrest of the 15 people.

Temple officials had lodged the complaint and had  suspected involvement of a large number of people in the crime, saying it could not have been moved by a few. The further investigation was on to find out how the gang had carried away the idol.