Bantwal: Thieves steal silver aureole from temple, leave behind gold
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)
Kishore B C Road
Bantwal, Jun 8: In a strange incident, thieves who entered a temple here left behind valuable gold ornaments, and took away only the silver aureole with them and threw files around. The theft that came to light on Saturday June 8 has surprised many devotees, temple management, and the police.
The thieves entered Goddess Chandika Parameshwari Temple, a famous temple frequented by hundreds of people and located at the heart of B C Road, supposedly in the wee hours of Saturday June 8. They broke open the main door of the sanctum sanctorum, and took away the silver aureole of the goddess valued at about Rs 5.5 lac, without touching anything else including gold ornaments.
The shrines of Lord Ganapathi and Lord Ayyappa located in the outer precincts of the temple were left untouched. For some reasons, the thieves also scattered around some files belonging to the temple office.
The fact that the thieves have not touched anything else has given rise to the suspicion that they were driven by some specific purpose. Not touching other gold ornaments, not entering the shrines of Lord Ganapathi and Lord Ayyappa, and not breaking open donation boxes or cash in the offices, has given rise to several theories about the possible intention of the thieves.
As per preliminary guess, the aureole was taken outside by breaking open the rear door. The wooden pieces, to which the aureole was fitted, were found to have been abandoned in a hillock near the temple.
It may be recalled that Rakesh Malli, a local entrepreneur, along with his family members, had donated this silver aureole to the Goddess during the last Navaratri festival.
A case stands registered relating to the theft at the town police station here. District superintendent of police, Abhishek Goel, deputy superintendent of police, Sadanand Varnekar, police circle inspector, Anil S Kulkarni, town police station in-charge, Shekhar, and finger print experts visited the spot and took up investigation.