Thieves struck at a Jain temple

Thieves struck at a Jain temple by breaking the locks of its two doors at Gopipura here in the wee hours of Tuesday and fled away with five panchdhatu idols of Tirthankar worth Rs 12,300, police said.

When the devotees and the priest entered the temple premises, they found the lock of the temple door broken. On checking, they found five panchdhatu idols missing from the temple.

Surprisingly, the thieves did not steal the silver crowns on the idols which were taken by them. It is suspected that the thieves took the idols to be of gold and hence left behind the silver crowns.

The temple is located at the densely populated Gopiputa Kajinu Maidan near Gopipura crossroads. The area has many narrow lanes and any noise in the temple can alert the residents too. However, the burglars still managed to steal the idols without getting caught.