Mumbai Crime: Burglars scale 15-ft temple wall, make away with 16 idols

The burglary was recorded on the temple's CCTV cameras. Pics/Hanif Patel

Two unidentified youngsters wearing facemasks scaled up the 15-feet boundary wall of Shree Sambhavnath Jain Temple in Virar at 2.20 am on Wednesday and decamped with 16 idols made of precious ashtadhatu or octo-alloy (eight metals), collectively worth Rs 1.58 lakh.

A temple trustee Ashok Jain told mid-day that the priest Tilokichand Rawal found the doors of the temple opened at 5 am. "Rawal sleeps in the temple. After he woke up, Rawal found the doors open and the cash boxes in a mess," he said. Rawal told mid-day, "I did not hear anything throughout the night. Along with the valuable idols, they took my mobile phone worth R10,000." It is not clear how much money was in the cash boxes.

Virar police have registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. A team of Modus Operandi Bureau too reached the spot and took fingerprint samples from the spot. The burglary was caught on the temple's CCTV cameras. They were seen touching the locks to break them. "The CCTV footage suggests that they entered the temple from the back of the temple as there are thick bushes and some trees for cover," Jain said.

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"It feels as if a family member has been kidnapped. The police must catch the accused at the earliest and recover the idols," said a sadhvi at the temple.

2.30am
Time the burglary took place on Wednesday

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