Robbers strike 5 temples in 1 night, flee with ornaments worth Rs 20 lakh

KENDRAPADA: Thieves struck at five temples within Barachana police station limits in Jajpur district on Wednesday night and escaped with gold and silver ornaments and other articles of the deities worth around Rs 20 lakh.
They also took away around Rs 50,000 in cash by breaking the donation boxes of Maa Jagulai temple in Deulikura village. Servitors of Radhakrushna temple and Hanuman temple in Deulikura, Ma Nahakani temple and Sani temple in Khairahat village, realised that the temples were burgled when they reopened temples for daily rituals on Thursday morning and found that the ornaments and other apparels of the deities were missing.
Acting on the FIRs of the priests, police launched an investigation. "We are scrutinising video footage collected from the nearby areas which might provide vital clues regarding the thefts," said the IIC of Barachana police station, Pradipta Kumar Kanungoo. The temples were not covered by CCTVs.
"Since the burgled temples are located within a radius of 10 km, these may be the handiwork of one group," the IIC said. Though it is not clear how many robbers committed the crime, the police officer put the time of the thefts after 9pm.
"These thieves are experts. Efforts are on to arrest them. Police have formed a special team to investigate the thefts. It may be a long-drawn search. We are also interrogating a section of temple priests and locals and not not ruling out 'insider' involvement," added the police officer.
A large number of people gathered at the temples after the news of the burglaries broke out in the villages on Thursday morning . Some devotees also sat in a dharna in front of the temples and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.
25 temples robbed in dist in last 5 years
It may be recalled that Kendrapada police on January 26 this year arrested six thieves and recovered nine ancient ashtadhatu idols during a raid in a dacoity case in the district.
Around 25 temples, Buddhist monasteries and other historic places had been burgled within five years in the district and its nearby areas. Despite the high incidence of thefts in temples, the conviction rate of accused continues to be virtually nil.