In a startling incident, about 30 ancient idols have been stolen from a Digambar Jain temple at Ghat Ki Guni area in Jaipur in Rajasthan, reported The Times of India.
As per reports, the incident took place on Monday during which burglars broke into the Parshavnath Bohara Ji temple premises and locked the room where the priest was sleeping. They then stole ₹65,000 cash, silver items and took away the idols that are said to be about 500-years-old. The priests of the temple have now registered a complaint with the police.
On learning about the incident, the temple’s working committee members rushed to the crime scene along with the police. They also demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and requested the Rajasthan government to protect the Jain temples in the State.
A police officer informed, “At least 30 idols which included some made up of ashtadhatu (eight metals) were stolen. Some of these idols are nearly 500 years old. We visited the spot and took the statements of priests and others.” Another officer said that a preliminary probe indicated the hand of an organised gang in the incident. The cops are also probing the CCTV camera footage to establish the escape route of the perpetrators.
22 idols stolen from 800-year-old temple in Odisha
This is not the first time that such an incident has come to light. In December last year, around 22 antique idols worth crores of rupees have been stolen from a 13th century Shiva temple in Odisha’s Khurda district. Police confirmed that some unidentified miscreants barged into the sanctum sanctorum of the 800-year-old Daksha Prajapati temple in Banpur town of Khurda district in Odisha by breaking open the locks of three doors and fled with the precious idols.
Among the stolen idols were statues of Maa Kanaka Durga, Gopinath Dev, Kaliyugeswar Dev and Chandrasekhar Dev. Some of the idols were made of ashtadhatu (an alloy of gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, iron and mercury).