Bengaluru, 11 November

Two men were arrested for allegedly breaking into the residence of veteran Indian hockey player M M Somaya here recently and stealing valuables, including the gold medal he won as part of the Indian team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, police said on Wednesday.

The accused were identified as Manikya alias Manikanta, 31, a labourer, and Bharat, 25, both residents of Bengaluru, they said.

Police said Manikya is involved in 33 cases – 25 in Karnataka and the remaining in Tamil Nadu, while Bharat is allegedly involved in two cases – murder and theft.

The arrest was announced by Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh during a press conference here.

With their arrest, police recovered all eight stolen medals, including the gold medal, a silver medal from the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, a bronze medal from the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and a bronze medal from the 1982 Champions Trophy in Amsterdam.

A camera, a Kodagu dagger and an Olympic kit bag, along with the two-wheeler allegedly used in the crime, have also been recovered.

The incident occurred on 28 October at HAL 3rd Stage, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Indiranagar police station, they said.

Somaya thanked the Bengaluru Police for recovering his stolen valuables, saying the recovery made him feel as though he had won the medals all over again.

"I am extremely happy and grateful to the Bengaluru Police for working really hard and recovering all the valuables stolen from my residence," Somaya said.