Bengaluru: City police Monday arrested two persons in connection with the Oct 28 burglary at hockey legend MM Somaya’s Bengaluru home and recovered his stolen medals, including the 1980 Moscow Olympic gold.With these recoveries, all eight missing medals have been traced, said police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh.The accused were produced in court Tuesday and remanded in police custody for eight days. Police verified footage from at least 1,000 CCTV cameras, covering around 80 sq km, to zero in on the suspects.The arrested have been identified as Manikya aka Manikanta, 31, a resident of Laggere, and Bharat, 25, from Hosakerehalli in Banashankari 3rd Stage. Both have criminal antecedents. Efforts are under way to trace a third accused who remains absconding.Police also recovered a camera, a Kodagu-style sword and an Olympic bag, and seized the two-wheeler used in the crime.Manikya and Bharat were picked up near Hagalahalli Cross in Ramanagara. During interrogation, they confessed to the crime and revealed the involvement of one other accomplice.They disclosed they had sold a gold and a silver medal to a jewellery store in Rajajinagar. They also revealed that the remaining items were kept at the Hoskote home of the third accused. Police conducted searches at the Hoskote house Tuesday and recovered the stolen items, while the two medals sold to the jeweller were also retrieved.A senior police officer said the jeweller bought the medals despite knowing those were stolen. “We will take action against him, too,” he added.According to the complaint, Somaya, a resident of Binnamangala Manavarthe Kaval (BM Kaval) in New Thippasandra, Bengaluru, had left for his hometown in Kodagu district with his family on Oct 25, 2026. On Oct 28, Somaya’s neighbours found the main door of his home ajar. They later informed Somaya about a likely break-in.On rushing back home, Somaya was shocked to find that his house had been broken into, and several valuables, including his medals, missing.INSETHabitual offendersManikya is involved in 25 cases, eight of which are registered in Tamil Nadu and the remaining in Karnataka. Bharat is involved in a murder and a burglary case.The duo had used an iron rod to break into Somaya’s Bengaluru home, after they were sure there were no occupants.CCTV footage from a neighbouring building captured the duo breaking into the house around 2:34 am on Oct 28. They spent days camping near lakes and eucalyptus groves in Ramanagara and near Hosur following the burglary.Quote blurb:“This was the medal [1980 Olympic gold] I cherished the most, and I feel as though I have won an Olympic medal again. I am extremely grateful to Bengaluru police. These medals carry sentiment, memories and emotion. We played an amateur sport and did not receive much in terms of monetary benefitsMM Somaya | Olympian
