Lakhs worth of money stolen from temple for drugs, accused arrested

Surajpur. Three donation boxes were stolen on the night of 19 February in the Shiva temple located in Jarhi of Bhatgaon police station area of Surajpur district. Police have arrested 2 youths in this case. Both the youth are drug addicts. He committed theft in the temple when he did not have money to meet his drug needs. According to the information, by breaking the lock of the Shiv temple, unknown thieves had stolen three donation boxes and other items kept in the temple. On February 20, Acharya Devki Nandan Pandey had lodged a report at Bhatgaon police station. Later the donation box and its contents were found thrown near the pond behind the temple.

Earlier, between 12 noon and 2 pm on February 14, when there was no priest in Siddheshwar Hanuman Temple Shaktinagar Temple, thieves, seeing the opportunity, raided the temple and stole the donation box. People had expressed their displeasure over the continuous incidents. Bhatgaon police, engaged in locating the unknown thief, interrogated the suspects closely. During interrogation, suspects Rajkumar Paswan (20), resident of Korandha Bhatgaon and Chhotu Kenwat (20), resident of Jarhi, admitted to theft in the temple. During interrogation, the accused told that they stole from the temple as they did not have money to meet their drug needs. Both of them have been arrested after recovering Rs 2910 stolen from the accused. The accused have denied involvement in other theft incidents. The accused were presented in the court.