Burglars break into three Odisha temples, run away with gold ornaments and cash

Gold ornaments and cash worth more than ₹4 lakh were looted from three temples in Odisha’s Balasore district late on Tuesday night. Miscreants broke into Jagannath, Laxmi and Shiva temples in Baliapati village

Published on: Nov 24, 2021, 16:59:23 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Gold ornaments and cash worth more than ₹4 lakh were looted from three temples in Odisha’s coastal district of Balasore late on Tuesday night.

Police said unidentified miscreants broke into Jagannath, Laxmi and Shiva temples in Baliapati village and carried out the burglaries.

“On Wednesday morning, some devotees noticed the locks of the temples had been broken. The gold ornaments on the deities were missing and cash kept in the donation boxes was also missing. They then reported the matter to police,” said Prashant Jena, officer-in-charge of Singla police station.

Jena said a case has been lodged over the three burglaries.

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Burglaries at temples are not new in Odisha, with several instances reported across the state in the last couple of years.

In June this year, the donation box of a temple located at the west gate of Jagannath temple in Puri was looted. In March, miscreants broke into a 14th century temple in Puri town and ran away with ₹4,000. In January, robbers broke into the 13th century Gopinathdev temple in Kakudia and stole metallic idols.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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