Suspect stealing idol caught on CCTV

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad

A gold idol of Bhagwan Parshwanath weighing 2 kgs 53 grams and amounting to Rs 1.05 crores was stolen from Atishay Tirth Kshetra temple at Kachner in Aurangabad district by replacing with a copper idol. The incident came to the fore on Saturday morning and the police started an investigation. A suspect has been caught in the CCTV camera footage. A case has been registered with the Chikalthana police station.

Aurangabad rural police have established two teams of officers to search the suspect and have been sent to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Temple committee general secretary Vinod Lohade has lodged a complaint in which he mentioned that a temple trustee Lalit Patni on December 23 night informed him that the idol in the temple has been replaced. Accordingly, the board of trustees visited the temple the next morning and weighed the idol and it weighed 942 grams. The original idol weighed 2 kgs 53 grams. Then the idol was checked by a goldsmith and it was found that the metal was copper.

SP Manish Kalwaniya, sub-divisional police officer Jaidutta Bhavar, PI Devidas Gaat, local crime branch PI Rameshwar Renge and other officers visited the temple and checked the CCTV footage. One disciple of the temple was seen taking the idol out on December 14. However, his face was not clear in the footage. This disciple is missing for the past few days and his mobile phone is switched off. The police teams are searching for him in other states.

The video recording of the Puja in the temple is posted in the WhatsApp group every day. However, the footage in the video of December 13 and the next day has differences. The incident was noticed as the priest of the temple noticed on Friday that the colour of the idol has faded. On Saturday, it was found that the metal was copper. The suspect is known to all, the sources said.