Post News Network
Dhenkanal, Nov 26: Miscreants sneaked into the famous Shiva shrine of Sri Sri Chandrasekhar Jew temple at Kapilas here and stole three 12th century idols from its premises late Wednesday night.
The matter came to fore after priests arrived in the wee hours Thursday to conduct the daily rituals of the deities. As a result, the rituals were not conducted for seven hours. The rituals resumed at 12.30 pm after Rajpurodha Panchanan Mishra arrived in the temple and held consultations with servitors.
The stolen idols of Lord Ganesh, Goddess Durga and Goddess Bhairabi were hewn out of black granite in the 12th century. The Ganesh idol of 3-ft height and 2-ft width was worshipped as the Dwarapal near the donation box of the main shrine along with a Durga idol which is 2-ft high and 1.5-ft wide. The 3.6-ft high and 2-ft wide Bhairabi idol was placed inside the Chandi temple near the Lion’s Gate.
Police along with a forensic squad and sniffer dogs started an investigation but failed to get any clues on the theft.
The incident spread shockwaves among devotees who had arrived from in and outside the state for ‘darshan’ of the deities on the first Thursday of the holy month of Margashira. Moreover, servitors staging a dharna demanding security also triggered unrest in the temple. They relented after the endowment department and police officials intervened.
Sources said the act might be that of miscreants who had come in a four –wheeler having registration number of Uttar Pradesh which was found parked outside the Lion’s Gate till late Wednesday night as over 36,000 devotees visited the temple on Kartik Purnima.
ASP Anil Kumar Das said investigation is on and the Crime Branch has been duly informed about the theft. PNN