How cops nabbed the ‘monk’ who looted Jain temples across 3 states including 600g gold bar, 10kg silver crown from Chennai Sowcarpet

Chennai Police have reportedly cracked a puzzling series of Jain temple burglaries that had kept investigators on their toes for nearly a year.

According to a report in The Times of India, the breakthrough came after an exhaustive probe that involved scanning and analysing more than 200 CCTV clips from multiple locations. The accused has been identified as 60-year-old Jeevan Singh, who was arrested in Pune following months of surveillance and coordinated efforts between police teams across states.

The case dates back to February 2025, when a major theft was reported at a Jain temple on Mint Street in Sowcarpet, Chennai. Among the valuables stolen were a 600-gram gold bar and a silver crown weighing around 10 kilograms. After a complaint was filed, the Elephant Gate police launched an investigation and began combing through CCTV footage from the surrounding areas. The recordings showed a man with his face partially covered using a torchlight to carry out the theft under the cover of darkness.


Investigators painstakingly tracked the suspect’s movements across more than 100 CCTV cameras across the city. Their efforts eventually led them to Egmore railway station, where the man was spotted boarding a train to Nashik, reportedly posing as a religious preacher. However, beyond that point, the trail went cold for several months.

A significant breakthrough came three months ago when a similar burglary was reported at a Jain temple in Telangana’s Kachiguda district. Police teams exchanged CCTV footage, and a comparison confirmed that the same individual was behind both incidents.

Further inquiries revealed Singh’s alleged involvement in other temple thefts in Salem, Chengalpet and different parts of Tamil Nadu, along with cases in Karnataka and Telangana.

During interrogation, Singh is said to have admitted that he used the proceeds from the stolen gold and silver to purchase land in Lonikand and construct separate houses for his wife, son and daughter. The stolen ornaments were allegedly sold to a Pune-based real estate businessman, Raj Bahu Rathore.