Daijiworld Media Network - Hosadurg (SP)

Hosadurg (Kerala), Aug 28: Two ancient idols of Lord Ugra Narasimha, made of an alloy of five metals, were stolen from the historically famous temple of Lord Mahavishnu, located at Kottacccheri Kunnammal in the heart of Kanhangad town. The theft came to light on Thursday August 27 morning.

The thieves had entered the temple by using a ladder to cross the outer wall of the temple. They then broke open two locks of the sanctum sanctorum and took away the main idol of Lord Ugra Narasimha that was being worshipped daily, and a 20-kilogram 'Utsava Murthy' of the lord located nearby, apart from gold ornaments adorning the idols. The value of the idols stolen is put at about a crore of rupees in international market.

The temple is located in a densely populated area, by the side of two private hospitals that are thronged by people all 24 hours of the day. An employee of the temple, named Shambhu and some others had slept in the yard of the temple on Wednesday night.  The thieves decamped by using the rear door of the outer wall of the temple. In spite of this, the theft did not come to the notice of any one. This gives hint to the possibility that the thieves were well-trained and skilled at stealing in temples, the policemen said.

The theft came to light, when chief priest Vighneshwar Bhat came to the temple on Thursday morning. On the basis of information provided by him, deputy superintendent of police (DySP) Habib Rahiman led a team of personnel, comprising of special branch DySP Ravindran, policemen, sniffer dogs, finger print experts etc., to the temple. The policemen have recovered a bed sheet and finger prints, suspected to be that of the thieves, inside the sanctum sanctorum.  The policemen have found that the thieves had used a ladder lying outside the house of a person named Gurudutt nearby and a rope of a nearby well, for the theft.

The policemen have found similarities in the modus operandi employed by the thieves, who had earlier stolen an idol of Lord Krishna from Poochakkad Lord Mahavishnu temple on August 20 and guess that the same gang would have been involved in this theft. The devotees are apprehensive about the series of thefts taking place in the temples located in the region.