Servitors Among 6 Arrested for Theft at Famed Odisha Temple

Berhampur: Four servitors were among six persons arrested in connection with ft of ornaments and cash from revered Tara Tarini temple in Odisha's Ganjam district, police said on Friday.

Silver ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh were stolen from temple, a 'Shakta Pith' located on a hilltop in Purushottampur, on November 4. Among items stolen were crowns of deities, a ceremonial umbrella and masks of deities, according to police.

accused were identified as Amulya Rana (28), Bikash Rana (20), Rabin Kumar Rana of Gobindapur and Goutam Rana of Pratapur -- all servitors of temple. or two are night watchmen of temple, Kalia Dash (35) and Balaram Nayak (45) of Raipur.

A cutter machine was seized from Kalia, while some electrical equipment was found with Balaram. A total of Rs 39,000 in cash was recovered from Amulya and Rabin, said SDPO (Purushottampur) Rajani Kanta Samal.

He said stolen silver ornaments could not be recovered from accused persons.

"We are trying to recover silver ornaments of deities," he ded.

Samal said investigation was continuing to find or persons involved in ft.

accused entered temple by breaking locks of entrance gate. Besides stealing silver ornaments, y h also taken cash from 'hundi' or donation box of temple, police said.

matter came to light on next morning. An investigation was started after temple's managing committee lodged a police complaint.

CCTV cameras have been installed at temple following ft.