Four ‘Ashtadhatu’ idols stolen from ancient temple in Odisha's Kendrapara

KENDRAPARA: In a midnight heist, unidentified miscreants struck the ancient Dadhibamanjew temple at Tamalasasan village within Pattamundai police limits and decamped with four Ashtadhatu idols from the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum on Friday night. The theft came to light when the priest, on reaching the temple,  found the main door open and the lock of the sanctum sanctorum broken with idols missing the next morning.

He then lodged a police complaint. Pattamundai IIC Tapan Rout said it is the handiwork of thieves who are experts in committing thefts in religious places. Efforts are on to nab them. Police have formed a special team to investigate the theft and efforts are on to nab the accused. “We are interrogating a section of the temple priests and locals. As there is no CCTV inside the temple premises, we cannot rule out ‘insider’ involvement,” he added.

As the news spread, locals gathered near the temple with many staging a dharna and demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. Dadhibamanjew temple was included in the tourism map of the State by the government five years back. Around 40  temples, Buddhist monasteries and other historic places had been burgled in the district and its nearby areas in the last four years.