Udupi : Police arrested two persons for robbing churchgoers in Shirva and Karkala for over the two years on April 13, Sunday.

The arrested are identified as Raviraj Devadiga (28) an electrician and Prakash Devadiga (32) a coolie, hailing from Heroor. Police also seized 150 gm of gold, two bikes, and an Omni car worth Rs 7 lakhs used for the thefts from the thieves.

It is learnt that, duo had committed thefts and also snatched chains from senior citizens returning from church in Belanjalu-Hadi Road under Shirva police limits, near Pathonjikatte under Karkala town police limits, Pilaru-Pernalu near Adivasi Shikshana Kendra, near Shirva Church, and Kuthiyar-Thotlaguri road in 2012.

The police had formed three teams in Udupi, Mangalore, and Shimoga to arrest the culprit.

Karkala circle inspector Sunil Nayak, and Shirva station inspector Ashok, Suresh, Vishwajith, Dharnappa, Rajkumar, Shridhar, Jagadish, Ravi, Annappa, and Bhaskar participated in the operation under the guidance of Karkala assistant division ASP Annamalai.