ADILABAD: Antique idols, including Utsava vigrahalu, were stolen from Sri Balaji Venkateshwara Swamy temple in Sirpur (T) town of Kumrambheem-Asifabad district on Sunday night.The incident came to light on Monday morning when the temple priest noticed that the locks were broken. He immediately alerted villagers, who informed the police.
During initial investigation, the police found that the thieves tried to break the hundi but as they could not succeed, they stole the idols. Meanwhile, the local BJP leaders, led by Sirpur Kagaznagar constituency in-charge P Harish Babu, visited the temple and expressed shock at the theft of idols from ‘the 800-1,000-year-old temple’.
“This is not first time that these kind of incidetns are happening at temples. Recently, a similar theft took place Ayyappa swamy temple in Sirpur Kagaznagar constituency. This is due to the negligence of government and police. These attacks are attacks on Hindu dhrama,” they said.They also threatened to launch agitations if the culprits are not caught within 48 hours.