E-Paper
Odisha thief who stole temple ornaments 9 years ago returns it, seeks apology
In the apology note, he mentioned that he is leaving ₹301 of which ₹201 was meant for donation and ₹100 as penalty
A man who had stolen silver ornaments from a temple on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar nine years ago returned all of it seeking apology for his unholy action through a written note, police said.
In May 2014, several silver ornaments of Radha-Krishna temple at Gopinathpur village in Bhubaneswar were stolen.
The stolen ornaments included headgear, earrings, bracelets and a flute.
Despite a police complaint, there was no breakthrough in the case.
Also Read: Miffed with God after losing parents, man takes to temple theft in revenge
Chittaranjan Rout, inspector-in-charge of Dhauli police station said the bag of ornaments valued around ₹4 lakh with an apology note was placed outside a house next to the temple from where the thief had stolen it.
“In the note, he mentioned that he is leaving ₹301 of which ₹201 was meant for donation and ₹100 as penalty. He wrote that he took the ornaments when a yajna was being performed at the temple. After stealing the ornaments, he faced a lot of problems in life during the nine years and that’s why he decided to return them. He, however, did not give out his name in the note,” said Chittaranjan Rout, inspector-in-charge of Dhauli police station.
Temple priest Kailash Panda said the recovery of the stolen ornaments is nothing short of a miracle.
“We did not expect the ornaments to reappear like this. We had purchased new ornaments for the deities after the incident. This is nothing but divine intervention,” said Panda.
Meanwhile, Abil Dhir of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), Odisha feels the Antiquities Act needs to be more stringent as Odisha tops the list both in temple idol thefts and the failure to recover the stolen artefacts.
“The Antiquities Act has no penalizing provisions and the only section available for heritage thefts is IPC Section 370, which predominantly deals with housebreaking theft and carries a maximum penalty of six years and ₹3,000. It needs to be made more stringent,” said Dhir.
