Kanpur: In a late-night encounter on Friday, police arrested three men accused of stealing temple bells and a donation box from Devpura Mata temple in Usargaon village under the Kalpi Kotwali area of Jalaun district.According to police, one of the accused, Sandeep (30), alias Narendra Kumar, opened fire at police personnel in an attempt to escape and suffered a bullet injury to his leg in retaliatory firing by police.The other two accused, Balram (35) and Lala alias Lalchand (65), were arrested after being cornered by the Kalpi police along with the SWAT and surveillance teams.Police recovered 26 brass bells stolen from the temple, Rs 11,995 allegedly taken from its donation box, a country-made pistol, cartridges, lock-breaking tools and a motorcycle allegedly used in the crime.Additional superintendent of police Ishan Soni said that on the intervening night of Sept 16 and 17, unidentified thieves stole 26 brass temple bells and about Rs 35,000 from the donation box of Devpura Mata Mandir.He said a case was registered and multiple teams were formed to nab the accused.Soni added that during questioning, the accused confessed to carrying tools to break locks and cut latches before selling the stolen items and dividing the proceeds among themselves.
