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Anti-social elements have burgled a prominent Jain temple, Sri Vasu Poojya Swami Jain Swetambar Moorti Poojak Sangh, on the busy Obaiah lane at Akkipet here on Saturday night.

The gang made away with valuables amounting to Rs 20 lakh. The incident came to light early on Sunday when the priest arrived at the temple for the morning ritual.

The Cottonpet Police have registered a case of theft based on a complaint lodged by the priest and are investigating.

Five security guards, posted at the three-storey temple complex, were found sedated. They were rushed to Victoria Hospital and are still recovering.

The police, however, are suspicious about their role in the incident.

The gang managed to enter the sanctum sanctorum on the ground floor after breaking open four railings with a cutter, damaging the main door in the process. 

The gang made away with about 440 grams of gold ornaments kept in a safe near the main idol inside the sanctum sanctorum.

About Rs 2 lakh was also stolen from seven hundis or donation boxes. A sum of Rs 3 lakh is missing from the temple trust office.

There were 16 closed circuit television cameras installed in the temple complex. The gang damaged six of them installed on the ground floor and first floor. The police have now recovered footage from all the remaining 10 cameras.

A senior official said it was clear from the footage that there were at least three men and they had covered their faces with black clothes. He said there could be more men in the gang.

The gang might have been in the temple for more than three hours.

Jain temple guards under scanner over burglary

Bangalore, Oct 20, 2013, DH News Service :Police examining their claims that they fell unconscious after dinner.

Senior police officers have expressed shock at how well-planned the Jain temple burglary was and at how well it was executed.

“It is clear to anyone who visits the spot that those who carried out the burglary had extensive knowledge of the temple complex — not only its geography but also its practices,” the local inspector said.

Kanti Lal, a trustee of the temple, has promised “full co-operation” with the police investigation. “We are interested in getting to the truth of the matter,” a devotee said. Police, however, are not ruling out the involvement of insiders, including the temple complex’s contingent of security guards.

According to a senior police officer, interrogation of the guards has yielded contradictory statements. All five of the guards — Nagveer Bahadur, who has been working at the temple since it was established 20 years ago, Lal Bahadur, employed there for at least a decade, and Jungveer Bahadur, Paramesh Bahadur and Prakash Bahadur, who has been working there for a few years — were found unconscious by the priest when he entered the temple. The guards, who all hail from Nepal, were treated at Victoria Hospital and have since regained conciousness.

“We had believed that they may have been sedated by some spray or chloroform. However, one of the security guards has stated that they fell unconscious after eating dinner on the terrace, suggesting their food had been contaminated, ” the officer added.
This food, however, is usually prepared by the security guards themselves in their rooms, within the temple complex.

Police investigation has now revealed that one of the guards had brought food prepared at his home elsewhere on Saturday night. Police believe the guards were rendered unconscious through some sedating agent in this food.

They are currently being subjected to a medical examination at Victoria Hospital to determine whether they were actually sedated and to determine the level of sedatives in their body. “There are chances they were only pretending to be unconscious,” the officer said.

Kamal Pant, Additional Commissioner (Law and Order), told reporters the guards would be questioned again once they recovered.