Burglars break into Kondagattu temple, flee with 15 kg silver

It is suspected that at let three burglars entered the sanctum sanctorum from behind the temple by breaking open the door.

Jagtial: In what is said to be the first burglary in the 300-year-old Kondagattu Anjaneya Swamy temple, which is all set for a major renovation project, three masked persons broke into the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ late on Thursday night and decamped with about 15 kilograms of silver.

Burglars also broke into the Poleshwara Swamy temple in Polasa of Jagtial rural mandal and Rayapatnam Shivalayam of Dharmapuri mandal the same night.

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The Jagtial police, who have formed 10 special teams to nab the burglars, said the priests at Kondagattu had closed the shrine on Thursday night and when they opened it for ‘Suprabatha Seva’ early on Friday morning, they found the silver missing. Suspecting a burglary, they alerted the police, following which Jagtial DSP R Prakash rushed to the spot.

Examination of the CCTV footage showed three masked persons entering the shrine through the Bethala temple behind the main temple around 1.20 am. They then headed to the sanctum sanctorum, from where they stole 15 kg of silver objects including Makara Thoranam (2 kg), a silver photo frame of Anjaneya Swamy from the Ardamandapam (5 kg), four Shatagopams (3 kg) and a 5 kg garment. The worth of the objects is estimated to be around Rs.10 lakh.

The police, who suspended darshan and stopped devotees from entering the temple for a few hours in the morning, searched the premises with a dog squad. The DSP said every movement of the burglars on the temple premises were recorded in CCTV cameras, with Clues, IT, Cybercrime and the CCTV technical teams on the job to identify and nab them.

A Sub-Inspector and four Home Guards were on security duty on Thursday night at the temple and the burglars had managed to break in and slip out with them noticing. Terming the incident as unfortunate, the DSP said the burglars would be nabbed very soon.

Devotees were allowed into the temple later in the day after the priests performed ‘Samprokshanam’.

As for the two other temples, the police were verifying whether the burglars managed to steal anything. The DSP said thieves were targeting temples anticipating huge money since scores of devotees had visited the temples during the recent Maha Shivaratri celebrations.