In Kodungallur, Kerala a man was caught stealing idols after his scooter broke down near a temple on Thursday. Locals caught him red-handed and handed him over to the police.
On Wednesday night, 24-year-old Vivek had broken into several places before he was caught. He was taken into custody for breaking into he Methala Sree Dharmadaiva Temple, APJ Hardware shop at Eriyad, a lottery shop nearby and the Panangad Higher Secondary School.
Among the items that were stolen were a panchaloha idol, a copper ‘Goloka’ from Annapoorneswari Srikovil, another ‘Goloka’ of Raktheswari kept at the temple office, a ‘Prabhamandalam’ and coins worth Rs 25,000 from the hundi.
Reportedly, the incident happened around 4:30 am on Wednesday when Vivek’s scooter developed a snag while escaping the temple. A local resident had woken up from the sound of the scooter. He came out if his house to question Vivek, in the midst of which his bag of stolen items fell to the ground revealing its contents. On seeing the idols an alarm was raised to wake up the other residents. He was then handed over to the police.
The police had retrieved chilli powder and knives from him. He had also stolen Rs 7750 from the lottery shop, Rs 1000 from the APJ Hardware, Rs 8500 from the school and a Rs 2000 from a charity fund for cancer patients. Vivek had confessed all his crimes.
Hindu idols have always been under a constant threat of being stolen, desecrated or destroyed. Earlier this month, a man was arrested for posting obscene pictures with female idols at Thanjavur temple. Recently, the stolen Ugratara idol was found after months of police search and efforts in Assam. In Ayodhya, a thief returned an idol of Lord Ram after he was rattled by nightmares.
