CUTTACK : Unidentified miscreants stole gold and silver ornaments worth over Rs 5 lakh and Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 in cash from the donation box of Durga temple at Darakhapatna within Madhupatna police limits on Sunday night.
The miscreants entered the temple by breaking open its gate which was secured with two locks and decamped with jewellery including a silver crown of Goddess Durga, a gold crown, gold jewellery, mangalsutra, a golden eye and cash kept in the donation box.
The matter came to fore when priest Jyotiranjan Tripathy reached the temple at 6.30 am on Monday to perform morning rituals.
“I had closed the temple and secured its iron gate using two locks on Sunday night at around 8 pm. Today, when I reached the temple for performing the morning rituals, I saw that the locks of the gate were broken. I went inside and found the donation box lying open with no money in it. I also noticed that the almirah (cupboard) was broken and gold and silver jewellery were missing from it,” Tripathi said.
Madhupatna police launched an inquiry into the matter. Police have also verified the footage from a nearby CCTV camera.