Puri: Unknown miscreants struck the Shiruli Mahaveer temple under Chadanpur police limits and decamped with `1 lakh from the donation box (hundi) Tuesday night.
Locals claimed that miscreants had entered the shrine by twisting its grille.
“We have found an empty hundi near a bush on the backside of the temple,” said a villager.
On being informed, Chandanpur police and a scientific team reached the spot and began an investigation into the burglary.
It is worth mentioning that the shrine hundi had been burgled 10 times in recent past. Just a few days ago, some people had stolen money from a donation box installed on the temple premises.
Protesting frequent cases of thefts, servitors staged a dharna near the shrine Wednesday and refused to perform rituals. However, the priests relented and performed the rituals at the behest of Sadar sub-divisional police officer Sushil Mishra and Chandanpur police in-charge Girija Sankar Patnaik. “We have begun a probe after registering a case in this regard,” Patnaik said.
Notably, a police outpost has been set up near the shrine to ensure security to the devotees. “Police have grossly failed to solve any of the 10 theft cases reported from the Mahaveer temple,” rued a villager.
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