MARGAO
Parishioners of Holy Spirit Church, Margao woke up on Thursday morning to hear the shocking news of a daring burglary at the Church at dawn.
The lone burglar is believed to have walked into the Church premises, including the Church office and the room of Parish Priest, Fr Amandio Valladares, before decamping with cash amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh.
The incident is believed to have occurred early in the morning, between 6 am to 6.30 am. The lone burglar is believed to have entered the Church through the rear side gate.
In fact, the thief is reported to have entered the Church from the rear side when a priest was just leaving the premises for a Mass at the Presentation school.
Once inside, he broke open the latch of the door leading to the room of the Parish Priest. Sources informed that the CCTV footage shows the man entering the Church from the rear side.
After barging into the room of the Parish Priest after breaking open the latch, the burglar laid his hands on the cash, which was kept in the cupboard in the room. He is also believed to have opened the drawers in the Church office and has laid his hands on cash.
Parish Priest, Fr Valladares told the media that Fr Livio came downstairs for the 6.30 am mass on Thursday. “That time, I also came to the Church at around 6.30 am and I sat for prayers. At around 7 am, I went to the kitchen and then came back to the Church for the 7.15 mass. Since I had to go to the school after the Mass, I headed to my room at around 7.55 am, where I found the latch of the door broken,” he said.
Sources said his worst fears came true when he and the parishioners found cash amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh missing from the cupboard.
Upon receiving the information, the Fatorda police rushed to the Church to commence investigations into the daring burglary. The police had requisitioned the services of a fingerprint expert and a sniffer dog to assist in the investigations.
Fatorda Police Station in-charge, PI Girendra Naik informed that the police has started investigations into the burglary after receiving a complaint from Lucio Victor, who has claimed that cash amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh has been stolen from the Church. “We have obtained some vital clues and our men are working on the ground to solve the burglary,” PI Girendra said, while exuding confidence of achieving a breakthrough in the case.
