Residents of Belabahali village in Odisha’s Keonjhar district are on edge after a brazen string of temple robberies was discovered on Friday morning. Thieves reportedly hit four separate shrines in a single night, making off with gold and silver ornaments and emptying out donation boxes.
The enormity of the theft came to light when a lady from the locality arrived at one of the temples to attend her morning prayers, only to find that the doors were tampered with and the idols of the deities had been deprived of their ornaments. When the news spread, people assembled and realised that the perpetrators had not confined their crime to one shrine alone, but systematically raided the temples of Goddess Jagannath, Goddess Bimala, Goddess Lakshmi, and Lord Ram.
While searching the surroundings, villagers found the stolen donation boxes dumped in a nearby field. The boxes had been smashed open and hidden under a pile of hay, with all the cash cleared out.
Ghasipura police have since moved in to secure the crime scenes. Two teams are currently on the ground recording statements and piecing together the timeline of the break-ins. While a formal special task force hasn't been set up yet, local officials confirmed that the investigation is being handled directly by the Ghasipura Inspector-in-Charge, with forensic experts and a dog squad expected to join the search for clues shortly.
The villagers remain in a state of shock as police continue their search for the suspects.
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