“Both the accused are from Bengaluru and have previous cases registered against them. Manikya is involved in 25 cases in Karnataka and eight cases in Tamil Nadu. Of these, three cases have resulted in proclamation proceedings and six have non-bailable warrants pending against him. The other accused is involved in two cases,” a police officer said.

The police said the accused were not aware of the medals’ significance. They were produced before a court on Tuesday and remanded in police custody for eight days.

The police said the accused told them that they had sold one gold medal and one silver medal to a gold-buying company in Rajajinagar, while the remaining six medals and other articles had been kept at the house of one of them near H Cross in Hoskote.

The police recovered the two medals from Rajajinagar and the remaining six, along with the camera, Kodagu dagger, and Olympic kit bag, from Hoskote.

The medals will be handed over to Somaya, the police added.

The recovered medals include the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold, a silver medal from the 1982 Asian Games, a bronze medal from the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, and another bronze medal from the 1982 Champions Trophy in Amsterdam.

The collection also includes a gold medal from the Loiano tournament in Italy, participation medals from the 1984 Los Angeles and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and a silver medal presented during Guru Gobind Singh’s 300th birth anniversary celebrations.

Somaya thanks police for recovering medals

Speaking to the media, Somaya, 67, thanked the police for tracing the stolen medals. “I feel like winning the medals all over again,” he said.

The arrests followed a 15-day investigation involving around 85 police personnel under eight special teams led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Vikram Amathe.

The theft came to light on October 28, when Somaya and his family returned to their home in New Thippasandra after a trip to their native Kodagu district. They found that the front door lock had been broken and gold and silver articles, medals, and Rs 30,000 in cash were missing. They had left Bengaluru on October 25.

Somaya, a three-time Olympian who represented India at the 1980, 1984, and 1988 Olympics, had also written to Chief Minister D K Shivakumar seeking a time-bound investigation. He had highlighted the historical significance of the 1980 gold medal, which remains India’s last Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey.