Temple theft strikes Odisha again; valuables from Balasore Jagannath temple looted

A theft has been reported at the Jagannath Temple in Champu village, under Soro police limits in Balasore, where miscreants looted the temple's valuables late Wednesday night. The matter came to the fore when the priest arrived at the temple on Thursday morning to perform the morning rituals.

The priest discovered the loot and filed a complaint at Soro police station. The police promptly reached the incident site and initiated an investigation.

According to reports, the culprits broke the temple lock and entered the premises, decamping with gold and silver ornaments, as well as cash from the donation box. Among the looted items were the silver crown and silver flute of the Radha-Krishna idol.

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The temple priest stated that when they arrived today to carry out the daily puja and rituals, they found the temple door broken and the valuables stolen. After the discovery, a formal complaint was lodged with Soro police, who have since begun their investigation.

The lack of CCTV cameras around and inside the temple premises has complicated the investigation, leaving authorities with few clues to identify the perpetrators.

Similarly, on the night of January 20, some unidentified miscreants allegedly looted cash from the donation box of the Siruli Mahavir Temple, located within the jurisdiction of Chandanpur police station in Odisha’s Puri district.

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In recent days, Odisha has seen a significant rise in crime, particularly temple thefts. On January 14, 2025, the Saila Srikhetra Jagannath Temple was also looted. Temple priests discovered that the main gate, which had been securely locked the previous night, was broken, and money and items from the donation box were missing.

Among the temple thefts that have shocked the state, the robberies at Tara Tarini Temple in Ganjam and Pachamukhi Hanuman Temple in Cuttack stand out. In both cases, ornaments and valuables worth lakhs were stolen, leaving the citizens of Odisha deeply appalled and concerned about the growing crime wave targeting religious sites.