Robbers have struck once again in Orissa's temples stripping the Gods of their adornments, the victim being the state's presiding deity, Lord Jagannath and his kin, police said on Tuesday. “Thieves struck at a temple at Polsara, about 45 km from Berhampur robbing the deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra on Saturday night,” police said.
“The miscreants, who broke open the main door of the temple, decamped with some jewelry worn by the deities and money collected in the temple hundi,” police said.
Miscreants had attempted to loot the Dakhina Kali temple at a village near Purushottampur without success two days earlier, sources said. Thieves had struck at several temples in the state, including the 13th century Sri Jagannath temple at Puri and 11th century Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar, escaping with valuables. The miscreants had stolen the Ashtadhatu idol of Madan Mohan and silver idol of Narayan from the Puri shrine on the night of November 10 last causing a statewide furore. The idol of Madan Mohan, however, was recovered the next day from inside a well within the temple premises while that of Narayan was still untraceable. The robbers had stolen either the idols or valuables from several other temples within the last two months located at various places, including Berhampur and Rayagada. Bureau Report