Mysore/Mysuru: The recent vandalising of St. Mary’s Church on Gonikoppa Road at Periyapatna in the district was a case of theft, with a peeved former worker involved in the act arrested. What did him in, was the safety glove used by civic workers, found at the crime spot.

Addressing a press meet at her office yesterday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Seema Latkar said, “24-year-old Vishwa, a pourakarmika and resident of Mahadeshwara Layout here is the accused. Two years back he was working in the same church and had quit later, as the then Father did not pay his salary. Anticipating that the Father may be at the Church, he had gone to claim his dues, only to end up committing theft. Barring this, there are no other ulterior motives in relation to the incident.”

It may be mentioned that, on Dec.27, the offering boxes inside the church had been broken and the idol of the Infant Jesus in the cradle had also been damaged. Following this, Father John Paul had lodged a complaint at Periyapatna Police Station. The Father who had gone to Mysuru, returned only to discover the incident.

Considering the severity of the case, three Police teams were formed, headed by Periyapatna Inspector Sridhar, Bylakuppe Police Inspector Prakash and Hunsur Rural Inspector C.V. Ravi. The probe was launched in several angles like- the handiwork of religious fanatics, involvement  of local miscreants and burglary.

The Police who gathered clues from the articles ransacked on the premises, found a blue coloured  hand glove generally used by Pourakarmikas. The Cops started working on the lead, went to the Pourakarmika Colony located 500 metres away from the Church. They made a list of civic workers and keenly observed their behaviour during the inquiry.

The needle of suspicion was on Vishwa, son of Mahadev and the Police quizzed him during which he spilled the beans and confessed to the crime.

Interestingly, the glove seized from the crime spot was not of the accused, but was used by the workers at the Church to clean the premises after Christmas festival. But, what came in handy for the Police was the angle of investigation, which led them towards taking the case to a logical end.

Vishwa who was jobless since two months as he was sacked from work at Town Panchayat for disposing scrap, had committed theft as he was sulking over the dues to be paid from the Church, the SP clarified denying any criminal antecedents of the accused. Additional SP Dr. Nandini supervised the investigation, which was monitored by Hunsur Sub-Division Dy.SP M. K. Mahesh. Inspectors Sridhar, C.V. Ravi, Sub-Inspectors Basavaraju, Prakash Yethinamani, Govinda and others took part in the operation.