R B Jagadish
Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala

Karkala, Feb 21: Panchaloha idols worth several lacs of rupees along with gold and silver ornaments were stolen from the historic Shree Adinathaswamy Basadi in Shirlalu here in the early hours of Sunday February 21.

The thieves broke open the door of the inner sanctum of the temple and took away Panchaloha idols of Goddess Padmavati, Lord Bahubali, the Basadi deity Lord Adinatha Swamy and Bharat, gold masks, gold ornaments like bangle and chain, a gold hood, a silver aureole and puja items. The total worth of the stolen items is yet to be estimated as the idols were ancient. Altogether, around 14 items were stolen.

The theft came to light when the chief priest of the Basadi Shrikant Indra came to the Basadi for daily puja and found the door and the window grill on the east of the inner sanctum broken. On entering the inner sanctum, he found that the idols and ornaments had gone missing. He then immediately informed Basadi secretary Sudarshan Adhikari who in turn called the police.

It is suspected that the theft was well-planned. The locals said that over the last five days, pet dogs in the area have died one after the other, raising supicions that the gang of thieves may have poisoned them. As there were no dogs in the neighbourhood, the thieves could easily commit the crime and escape without any trace.

As soon as the theft came to light, police arrived at the spot along with fingerprint experts and canine squad. During preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the thieves had entered the Basadi with their shoes on.

Ajekar police have registered a case and investigations are on.