Miscreants struck at Gopinath Dev temple at Biranarasinghpur village in Puri district and decamped with several ‘Astadhatu’ idols late Friday night. The matter came to light on Saturday night after the priest reached the spot and found the locks of the temple broken.
As per preliminary reports, the miscreants have looted five idols inside the temple including Dalagovinda, Madanmohan and Kanak Durga idols. Gold and silver ornaments of the deities have also been stolen.
It is pertinent to mention here that Puri has been hit by a spree of temple thefts in the last few months. Two days back, miscreants had stolen 500-year old Astadhatu idol from Ishaneswar temple at Srimukundapur area.
“There has been a rise in incidents of thefts of ancient Astadhatu idols in Puri. We urge Odisha Police officials to initiate measures to nab the miscreants involved in such incidents,” said Sarat Mohanty, a Chunara Sevak.
On March 8, Puri police had claimed success in recovering 10 Astadhatu idols which were stolen from various temples in the past. The stolen idols were seized from the possession of one Prafulla Mishra who was allegedly trying to sell them.
Mishra was arrested after three separate teams headed by the Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of an equal number of police stations- Kanas, Chandanpur and Satyabadi- from where series of theft in temples were reported in the recent past, were formed to probe the cases.