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2 booked for stealing from donation boxes in Mohali temple
The theft came to light in the morning when the a sewadar opened the doors of the temple; the locks of three donation boxes were found broken while three donation boxes were missing
Two people were booked for stealing cash from six donation boxes in Pracheen Shiv Mandir, popularly known as Baba Bal Bharti Mandir, in Mataur on Saturday.
The theft came to light in the morning when the sewadar, Hukum Chand, opened the doors of the temple. The locks of three donation boxes were found broken while three donation boxes were missing. The empty boxes were found at some distance from the temple.
Chand told the police that he had locked the temple at around 9.15pm on Friday and found the lock of the main gate broken and the cash stolen around 4.45am.
The closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage shows two people entering the temple around 1.29am. Chand said there was approximately ₹40,000 in the donation boxes as they had not been opened after Shivratri. A case was registered, and a search has been launched for the accused.
Police suspect that the culprits have also targeted a few religious institutions in the past. Earlier, this week, the police had released photographs of the accused involved in theft at religious institutions.
2 minors arrested for stealing from temple in Chandigarh
Meanwhile, police apprehended two teenagers for stealing ₹16,000 from a donation box in a temple in Milk Colony, Dhanas, Chandigarh, on Saturday.
Police were able to identify and arrest the accused, who are aged 15 and 17, with the help of CCTV grabs and an eyewitness. The accused are school dropouts. The teenagers were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.
The theft had come to light on March 17 when Shankar, the sewadar of the Sanatan Dharam Mandir, found the donation box in the Shani Temple missing and alerted the police.
In his complaint, the priest, Tilamani, said the temple was closed around 9pm on March 16 but when Shankar went to open the temple around 5.30am the next day, he found its locks broken. On conducting a search of the premises, police recovered an empty cash donation box.
A case under Sections 380 ( theft in dwelling house) and 457 ( house-breaking) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Sarangpur police station.
