Cuttack: Gold and silver ornaments worth over Rs 4 lakh were stolen from the 250-year-old temple of Goddess Mangala at Jharjirmangala in the Badambadi police station limits Monday morning.
“The involvement of an inter-district criminal gang is suspected in the incident. The theft was very well-planned, and the burglars used cutters to break the temple locks,” said a police official. The burglars also snapped the electricity supply to the main entrance to the temple and also damaged a bulb.
This is the second time that a temple has been burgled this month in Cuttack. On December 1, gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 5 lakh and two donation boxes had been stolen from the Hanuman temple at Ranihat.
“Today morning, I found the locks of the main entrance broken and sensed something wrong. I immediately reported the matter to other senior officials of the temple administration,” said temple servitor Abhimanyu Rana.
Rana said he opened the gate of the temple around 5 a m. He also noticed the electric bulb hanging at the entrance missing, The Telegraph reported.
“The burglars damaged the bulb and committed the crime. The thieves also broke two locks in another gate to loot the ornaments,” Rana said.
The burglars possibly committed the theft in a hurry since they left behind a few gold ornaments, including a small necklace of the deity.
“We have got some clues and further investigation is being carried out in connection with the incident,” said assistant commissioner of police Anil Mishra.
Prafula Chandra Raj, a senior official of the Jhanjirmangala Temple Trust, said most of the gold ornaments were not kept in the temple after there had been a similar theft in 1998. “Most of the gold ornaments are kept outside the temple and only used during special puja celebrations on the occasion of Dussehra and other rituals of the temple,” said Raj.
He said the temple officials had emptied two donations boxes yesterday. It seems that the criminals had planned the robbery in advance as they chose Sunday when the entire market would remain closed.