KENDRAPARA: Ten ‘Ashtadhatu’ idols were reportedly stolen from the sanctum sanctorum of Panchupandav temple in Deradiha village within Derabisi police limits here on Saturday night. Sources said, the theft came to light when temple priest Kamalakant Dash reached the temple on Sunday morning only to find the main door open and the lock of the Sanctorum broken. An FIR was then lodged with Derabisi police.
Suspecting it to be the handiwork of professional thieves, police formed a special team and pressed sniffer dogs to aid the investigation while not ruling out the role of insiders. Temple priests and locals are being quizzed on the matter too. “Since there are no CCTVs on the temple premises, involvement of some temple insider is also being taken into consideration,” IIC Jyotimayee Sethi said.
Following the incident, devotees of the area staged a dharna in front of the temple demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. Around 40 temples, Buddhist monasteries and other historic places have reportedly been burgled in the district and its neighbouring areas in the past five years. Locals however attribute the rising cases of temple burglary to the slipshod attitude of the police.
“Delay in court hearings, tampering of evidence and lack of forensic tests are some of the reasons for the increase in such incidents,” said a lawyer Subash Das.On October 26, 2020, a burglar was sentenced to two years imprisonment for stealing idols and ornaments from the Radha Krishna temple here in Nurugaon village.