CANACONA
Two temples situated within 50 metres of each other in Loliem-Polem were burgled late Sunday night, with burglars breaking open as many as 6 donation boxes and decamping with cash estimated at Rs 25,000.
A Canacona police team led by Canacona PI Harish Raut Desai was at the site, as investigations began at both temples.
According to police sources, the burglars were caught on CCTV footage at both temples.
Five donation boxes in the Keshav Devalaya placed near five different Gods were broken open and the burglars decamped with about Rs 15,000-16,000 in cash.
“Burglars gained entry by breaking open the door of the temple. As a matter of practice, we normally open the donation boxes after every two months, and it was supposed to be opened last week. But because of one upcoming occasion, we had decided to open it after 4-5 days. There should have been more than Rs 15,000 in all the five donation boxes,” said Keshav Devalaya President Vithal Ramchandra Prabhu Mallyar.
At the nearby Damodar Devasthan, about 50 metres from the Keshav Devasthan, burglars broke open two doors of the temple. With the help of an iron rod apparently brought from the Keshav Temple, the burglars broke open a strong iron donation box, and decamped with cash of over Rs6,000.
Besides, the Guru-dakshina of Rs 3,000 of the temple priest given by devotees and kept at a secured place in the temple itself was also stolen.
Interestingly, a second donation box placed a little ahead in the temple was left untouched.
After being alerted, Canacona police under the guidance of PI Harish Raut Dessai went to the spot and took over the investigation.
One burglar was seen in the CCTV footage of the temple and was reportedly noticed walking on the road in Loliem market area on Sunday afternoon.
At about 10.17 pm, it is seen in the CCTV footage that he entered one of the temples.
According to sources, the temple priest of Damodar Devasthan who came early morning to perform puja noticed the burglary and accordingly alerted the Devalaya committee.
It is reportedly learnt that besides cash, some valuable items were also stolen from both the temples.
