Puri: Puri police busted an idol theft racket with the arrest of three persons including the prime accused and receivers of the stolen idols.
On the intervening night of 12 and 13 February, accused Ranjan Kumar Pradhan, along with Bikash Behera and Susil Pradhan, stole the Brass Idol of Lord Shiva and Parvati, along with gold and silver ornaments and a sound machine from Mukteswar Temple situated at Sarbodaya Nagar under Talabania PS by breaking the locks of the temple gate. They all sold the stolen idols to Gunamani Pradhan of Baliput, and gold, and silver ornaments, along with the sound machine to Jitendra Kahal, and received Rs-1200 and Rs-3500 respectively from them.
Valuable idols and gold ornaments stolen from the temple by the accused persons have been seized, Puri SP Pinak Mishra informed in a press conference here on Monday.
While the police were investigating the theft incident, a special team led by City DSP Prashant Kumar Sahu, on receiving a tip-off, arrested the accused persons, he said.
Accused Ranjan Kumar Pradhan and receiver Gunamani Pradhan and Jitendra Kahal have been arrested, and all the stolen articles have been recovered from them. The other two accused, namely Bikash Behera and Susil Pradhan, were already arrested in Sadar PS case no. 66 dated 15.02.2024, U/S- 379 and 34 IPC, and now they both are in jail custody. Accused Bikash Behera and Susil Pradhan will be remanded in the case, the Puri SP said.
To prevent theft from the temples, all temple committees will be requested to install multiple CCTV cameras on the premises and employ private security personnel, the SP further added.
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