Burglars steal 6 idols, donation box from Puranpur temple

Chaitra Shuklapaksha 9, Kaliyug Varsha 5117

Now where is the media which makes so much of noise when any church, mosque or madrasa is attacked ? – Editor, HJS

Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh) : Burglars broke into the famous Radha Madhav Jagannath temple situated in Pilibhit district’s Puranpur city area on the night between Saturday and Sunday and stole six idols of Gods and Goddesses made of brass along with the donation box. The theft was discovered on Sunday morning. The police have lodged an FIR in the matter. A team of fingerprint experts has inspected the spot.

Traders and locals have condemned the incident and demanded speedy action.

The Radha Madhav Jagannath temple is located in the congested Chowk bazar amid jewellery shops under Puranpur Kotwali police station. People were taken by surprise in the morning when they went to open the temple and found its locks broken. They found that the burglars had taken away six brass idols, includiong that of Lord Hanuman, Radha and Krishna and Ganesh, besides the donation box.

A prominent businessman and rice miller of Puranpur, Ashok Kandelwal, said if burglars could dare steal the idols from Radha Madhav temple, then they could also loot jewellery shops in the area. He said in November last year, four armed hooligans had intruded into the shop of a jeweler, Anil Agrawal, at 5.45 in the evening with an intent ot rob. They had shot Agarwal dead. He said the shop was a stone’s throw from the temple. He claimed that traders and locals of Puranpur have lost faith in police for ensuring public safety.

The ASP Sudhir Kumar Singh, who had inspected the spot, said an FIR had been registered against unidentified offenders and police would strive to nab them as early as possible. Fingerprints have been taken from at different spots inside the temple which might be helpful in tracing the culprits.

Source : The Times of India