THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of multiple thefts at temples within Pothencode police station limits, another incident of similar nature was reported from the neighbouring Mangalapuram police station limits on Tuesday. As many as 32 bronze lamps were stolen from Valikonam Sree Bhadra Devi temple on Tuesday night. The lamps were kept outside the sanctum sanctorum and were found missing by Wednesday morning. The Mangalapuram police said they have scoured the CCTV visuals and collected the image of the suspect from it. “Now we have to identify the suspect from the image,” said a police officer.
Meanwhile, Pothencode police are still groping in the dark over the identity of the thieves, who had struck at two temples in its locality. Two incidents of theft were reported from Theruvila Devi temple and Vyprathala temple on Monday night.
The thieves reportedly broke into the sanctum sanctorum of Vyprathala temple and made away with a gold chain weighing a little more than two sovereigns. The donation box of the temple was also broken open. Two donation boxes of nearby Theruvila temple were also broken open. Pothencode SHO Mithun D said they have got some clues about the suspects and investigation is heading in the right direction. He added that it could be the same people, who had struck at two places in Pothencode police station limits.
“We are working on one or two leads that we had managed to garner during the investigation,” he said. The police initially tried to rely on CCTV visuals to ascertain the identity of the thieves. However, most of the cameras installed in the vicinity of the temples and nearby areas were not night-vision enabled, forcing the cops to look for alternative leads. Sources in Pothencode police said they are liaising with Mangalapuram police also to check if the theft of the bronze lamps had any connection with Pothencode incidents.