Puri: Now-a-days, burglars are targeting temples and mutts in the district here to steel ornaments, money and other valuables.
Several temples in the Holy City and other parts of the district have been burgled in last one-and-half years.
Unknown miscreants had raided Gopinath Dev temple at Birabalabhadrapur village and stolen ornaments worth Rs 20 lakh and money from the donation box October 11. The desperadoes also unsuccessfully tried to steal an idol worth lakhs of rupees, sources said.
Some burglars had targeted Sriram temple on Srimandir premises April 1 and stolen money from the donation box. They also unsuccessfully tried to steal the idol of Goddess Sita. However, the burglars had damaged a marble idol of Lord Krishna.
Similarly, some miscreants had stolen money from an office of Suar and Mahasuar Niyog on Srimandir premises, April 11. Police had caught a minor boy in connection with the incident after examining the CCTV footage.
The burglars did not spare Gobardhan Peeth, the seat of Puri Shankaracharya Nischalanand Saraswoti, in the Holy City. They had stolen money from the donation box of Goddess Bimala temple on the mutt premises July 22. Police had arrested a person in connection with the incident, sources said.
A group of burglars had stolen at least Rs 1 lakh from the donation box of Siddhamahaveer temple in the Pilgrim City here July 23. A priest of the temple had lodged a complaint in this regard with Talabania police.
Moreover, the Mahaveer temple at Arishala panchayat under Delang police limits was burgled January 6. The burglars had stolen money from the temple after damaging its donation box.
According to sources, miscreants had stolen money from the donation box of Brahmagiri-based Alarnath temple July 10, last year.
Similarly, the burglars had raided Jaydurga temple at Nuagaon under Satyabadi police limits July 29, 2018 and stolen at least six idols worth lakhs of rupee, sources added.
Puri district superintendent of police Umashankar Das said miscreants are targeting temples to steal ornaments and donation money. “The burglars are quite aware that no one is staying at temples at night. We cannot deploy security personnel at each and every temple in the district. The temple authorities should install CCTVs to check incidents of burglary,” he added.