Priest arrested for stealing gold from Swami Narayan Temple in Malad

Sukhdeo Rohit. Pic courtesy/ Samiullah Khan

Malad police have arrested a priest for stealing gold from a God's idol in Swami Narayan Temple, which is located in Malad West. The arrested accused hails from Rajasthan and is identified as Sukhdeo Rohit (32).

According to the officials from Malad police station, there are several cases registered against him at Pune, Mumbai, Kolhapur and various districts of Gujrat. He has a unique modus operandi to commit the crime. First, he does a complete recce before committing the crime and selects the temples where devotees donate offerings in gold and silver. He then starts talking with the trustees and other priests of the temple trying to win their confidence and then makes them believe that he has no interest in money or gold except for peace and prayers.

"He asked them if he can work in the temple and they allowed him to stay. Initially, he worked for 2 months and gave them no chance of complaints. One night, when everybody was asleep, he went stole all the gold ornaments from the idol and escaped," informed an officer.

"We then procured the CCTV camera footage installed inside the temple and identified Rohit who was seen stealing the gold ornaments. A case was then registered against him under Sections 381 of Indian Penal Code and we started an investigation," said another officer.

After that, police started looking out for details on the accused. They found several other cases against him where he used the same modus operandi to commit the crime, and then tracked down his location and arrested him from Rajasthan.

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