Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Feb 2: Saukoor Goddess Durgaparameshwari temple in the taluk, which happens to be one among the famous seats of goddesses in coastal Karnataka, was targetted by the thieves for the third time on the night of Monday February 1. Out of the three thefts, two have happened during the last six months, and the police have no clue as yet about who committed them.

The latest came to light on Tuesday February 2 morning. The silver face mask of the presiding deity and donation box were stolen from the temple by unknown thieves. The thieves, after breaking open the donation box and collecting the booty, were found to have abandoned empty donation box behind a shop near the temple. A Karimani chain, said to be placed around the neck of the idol of the goddess, was found to have been thrown nearby.

During theft which occurred on the night of August 14, 2015, a large-sized silver mask of the goddess, a golden replica of the face of the goddess, a chain weighting 500 grams, a golden Utsava Murty weighing 1.5 kg, a silver Utsava Murthy weighing one kg, silver mask of Lord Veerabhadra, silver umbrella, a silver ambrella from the sanctum sanctorum of the goddess, two donation boxes, a silver bell, two Karimani chains, nose ring, silver plate weighing 100 grams, and four small idols made of Panchaloha were stolen. Golden ornaments donated by devotees of the temple to the goddess since the last two years had been left in the donation boxes, which were among the items stolen. An estimated two kg gold ornaments were stolen by the thieves. The fact that no arrests have been made so far relating to the earlier thefts has given rise to a feeling of frustration among temple devotees.

The temple, which falls under the purview of muzrai department, is woefully short of security arrangements. The only siren provided to the temple has not been functional since over a year. Although thefts have occurred of late in several temples and police officials have been asking temples to fit closed circuit television cameras, no such step was taken in this temple till recently. Although six cameras have been provided recently, there are allegations that video quality is poor.

The temple had witnessed a theft about 15 years back. Police investigation had concluded then that insiders had a hand in this theft. A fresh case about the current theft stands filed in the police station here. Deputy superintendent of police from here, Manjunath Shetty, police circle inspector, Diwakar P M, sub-inspector, Nassir Hussain, and other staff visited the spot and conducted verification. Sniffer dogs and finger print experts also came to the temple and undertook work as per their routine once again.