YADGIR: Two minors and a youth were caught by villagers at Shettigera in the taluk on Friday night on suspicion of theft. The villagers said four of them had entered the village on a motorcyle and one of them managed to flee.
The villagers caught three of youngster and thrashed the youth after tying him to a tree. They also stood guard over the two minors late into the night till the police arrived and took away the trio.
The villagers said some women spotted the youths switching off the lights of a Lord Hanuman temple and raised an alarm. They said the youths had come to the village with an intention to steal a 25 kg silver idol of Lord Hanuman installed in the temple.
During questioning by the villagers, the trio claimed that they had come to hunt pigs, which the villagers rejected saying that there were other owners of piggeries in the village.
