Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Feb 28: On the night of Thursday February 26, thieves broke open the doors of the historically-rich Kanantoor Sri Todakukkinar Daivasthana located in Balepuni village of the taluk apart from the Bhandara room there and took away gold and silver ornaments apart from cash, total value of which has been estimated at around Rs 3.37 lac.

The Daivasthana is located on the border between Karnataka and Kerala. It is thought that the thieves knew the existence of ornaments inside the daivasthana and therefore struck at an opportune time. The thieves could not find anything worthwhile after they broke into the Daivasthana. They then broke open the doors of the Bhandara room and took away two metal daggers having golden handles, golden arrow, silver umbrella and silver flowers from there. Collections found in donation boxes were also stolen by the thieves.

Moolyanna who offers daily puja to the deities, found on his morning visit to the Daivasthana on Friday that the bolts of the doors had been broken. He they passed on this information to the Daivasthana managing trustee Balakrishna Poyyattaya. Thereafter, sniffer dogs and finger print experts arrived on the scene.

Mangalore rural police inspector Lingappa Poojary visited the spot and collected full details of the incident. Konaje sub-inspector of police S F Lohar and other personnel are conducting investigations.

Lot of valuable ornaments had been kept inside the locker of the Daivasthana. The locker bears several marks, making it evident that the thieves had tried to break open the locker, but failed. As such, ornaments worth several lacs of rupees were saved from becoming the property of the thieves.