A thief broke seven closed-circuit TV cameras installed at the Sai Baba Temple in Sector 29 here and stole ₹9 lakh from one of the cash boxes in a pre-dawn crime on Friday, police said.
The temple ‘sevadars’ — Shiv Kumar and Mukesh Singh — found about the incident around 4am when the door of sanctum sanctorum was opened. They found the locks of the cash box broken and raised an alarm.
Police said a CCTV camera outside the temple showed the footage of a man wearing a monkey cap entering the temple at 2.57am in the night. Police said the thief had climbed up the wall of the adjoining Garwal Bhawan and jumped on to the first floor of the temple from where he entered the main hall.
To ensure that he is not identified the accused was wearing a gunny sack. After entering the sanctum sanctorum, the accused damaged all the seven CCTV cameras installed inside the temple and then looted money.
{{/usCountry}}To ensure that he is not identified the accused was wearing a gunny sack. After entering the sanctum sanctorum, the accused damaged all the seven CCTV cameras installed inside the temple and then looted money.
{{/usCountry}}For 45 minutes he was inside the temple and stole cash from one of the three cash boxes. He took away currency notes of ₹100, ₹500 and ₹2,000 denominations and left behind lower denomination notes and coins.
The temple authorities were to open the cash box on Sunday. It is a routine for the temple management to open the cash box once in a month.
A complaint was lodged by temple president Ramesh Kalia. A case under Section 380 (theft) was registered at Industrial Area police station. Police suspect it to be an insider’s job as the thief was aware of where all the cameras were installed.
“The accused had brought a black paint. Not just his face, he had even covered his hands with gloves to ensure that no fingerprints are left behind. At least ₹9 lakh was stolen,” said Kalia.
Blurb: Police suspect the crime to be an insider’s job as accused knew the positions of all the cameras