Hyderabad: A burglary took place at the Durga Bhavani temple in Gunfoundry, just 100 metres away from the Hyderabad police commissionerate on Wednes-day.
CCTV footage recorded at the temple shows a person entering the temple at about 6.25 pm, performing rituals, and taking away the half-a-kg crown adorning the head of the Durga mata statue. For safety, the crown was secured to a chain, which the burglar managed to unchain before leaving with the crown.
The incident came to light the same night around 8:30 p.m. when temple priest Raju went to lock the doors of the shrine.
He found the crown missing and alerted the temple management. Chandulal Mishra and Sheru Mishra, who manage the temple, said: “We get devotees who come from several parts of the city. During the day time, there is also Go Seva at the stable of holy cows attached to the temple. We do not have much security as the area is surrounded by people. The offender must have visited the temple before stealing the crown. He must have known there will not be many people at the time he visited. We are sure he is not from this locality,” they said. They also pointed out that the locals consider the temple a holy shrine. The temple is visited by a huge number of devotees particularly during the festival season like Dasara and Bonalu.
“This is more than a century-old temple established by a brother and sister — Balaiah and Maisamma. It was a small mud temple. Later, devotees formed a trust under chairmanship of Salik-ram Mishra and constructed the temple anew,” Chandulal and Sheru stated.
Abids police have registered a case and are investigating.
