Even as widespread rage is still being expressed over the violent robbery at the Dive Agar Ganesh temple, a Sai Baba temple in Bhandup was found to have been burgled by unknown persons on Tuesday morning.
According to the Kanjurmarg police, the incident was discovered at around 5 am on Tuesday by residents of the Sai Baba Nagar area, who were on their way to work. They saw that the temple doors were wide open, which was unusual, and entered the temple to investigate. They saw that the donation box inside the temple had been cut open and immediately raised an alarm. Some loose change was lying all over the floor.
Some flower sellers who have stalls outside the temple and live nearby then contacted the temple trustees who rushed to the spot. They subsequently registered a complaint with the Kanjurmarg police.
“The donation box had been cut out of its stand inside the temple using cutters. We only open the box once in three months, and hence cannot be sure how much cash the box contained. However, the box contained at least `50,000 to 70,000 each time we have opened it in the past. We had a bhandara ceremony on Sunday on the occasion of Ram Navami, and a huge crowd had gathered at the temple. The donations are estimated to be worth at least a couple of lakhs,” said Nandkishore Sawant, a trustee of the temple.
The Kanjurmarg police has registered a complaint of housebreaking and theft against unknown persons in the matter.
“We believe that the accused committed the crime after Ram Navami so that they could steal a huge amount. Based on the fact that they took advantage of the negligent security arrangements in the temple and that they stole the money in the box before it could be opened, we believe that the accused are local residents and possibly frequent visitors to the temple,” said an officer with the Kanjurmarg police.
Sniffer dogs were also taken to the temple but could not pick up a scent, the police said.