24-year-old man held for stealing silver ornaments, cash from temple

The accused – identified as Sakib alias Mohammad Akhtar Ansari, a resident of Jabbar compound in Shantinagar, Bhiwandi – is an auto-rickshaw driver and stayed with his parents and brother

Bhiwandi: A 24-year-old man was arrested within 24 hours of allegedly stealing silver ornaments of the deity at Dakshin Mukhi Hanuman temple in Kalyan.

24-year-old man held for stealing silver ornaments, cash from temple

The accused – identified as Sakib alias Mohammad Akhtar Ansari, a resident of Jabbar compound in Shantinagar, Bhiwandi – is an auto-rickshaw driver and stayed with his parents and brother.

According to the police, Ansari has been addicted to Charas which led to his parents not allowing him to enter their home. The police recovered a silver crown, necklaces, a mace placed with the idol, which weighs 1.25 grams, along with puja vessels and cash of ₹6,470 and an LED TV.

Sunil Pawar, senior inspector, Bazarpeth police station said, “We alerted the police stations and the crime branch unit of Thane commissionerate about the incident. Based on suspicion that the thieves were from Bhiwandi as the temple is situated at Agra Road, the police focused on their searches in the area.”

Investigation officer Sachin Gaikwad from Bhiwandi crime branch unit 2 said, “We received specific information about the suspect. We formed a team and reached the spot and detained him and found the stolen property from his possession.” He added that Ansari has committed a similar theft at a temple in the Naupada area, Thane.

The Dakshin Mukhi Maruti temple in Kalyan, a place of worship that attracts a large number of devotees, was burgled in the early hours of Tuesday. The thieves decamped with silver and cash worth around ₹96,000 as well as the Digital Video Recorder machine, wifi routers, and CCTV installed in the temple.

The complainant Jitesh Deshmukh, the treasurer of the temple trust, said that the priest went home after shutting the temple at around 10pm on Monday. The incident came to light at around 5am on Tuesday when Sunil Bajaj, a trustee of the temple, came to open the temple and found the silver ornaments from the sanctum sanctorum missing.