WARANGAL: Three burglars struck the famous Sri Anjaneya Swamy Temple situated atop Kondagattu Hill in Maliala mandal of Jagtial district during early hours of Friday.
They took away silver Utsava deities of Lord Hanuman, Makara Thoranam, Shatagopam and ornaments, all worth about ₹9 lakh.
Temple priests realised that Kondagattu Sri Anjaneya Swamy Temple had been burgled when they reached the shrine early in the morning for performing Subrabhata Seva to the presiding deity.
They found the main gate of the temple open with locks broken. They immediately conveyed the information to police. DSP R. Prakash, along with clues and dog squad teams reached the temple and closed all the gates of the temple.
The teams gathered clues, fingerprints and other signs of the burglary. They examined the CCTV footage, which revealed three unidentified youth entering the temple’s main premises from the Bethala Swamy Temple side. They took away around 15 kg of silver ornaments, Utsava deities, Makara Thoranam and Shatagopam, all valued at ₹9 lakh.
While investigations by police had been going on, devotees waiting outside the locked gates, including those donning Hanuman malas, became restive. They sat in front of the temple premises and started singing bhajans.
The devotees were finally let in after the investigating team left and temple priests performed the Samprokshanam.
The day witnessed another two temple burglaries, leading to suspicions that all the burglaries had been planned in coordination. Thieves also entered the Shivalayam at Rayapatnam in Dharmapuri mandal, broke the hundi and emptied it.
Paulahastishwara Swamy Shrine at Polasa village in Jagtial Rural mandal is the other temple burgled. Unidentified persons broke into the temple’s office, forced the almirah open and stole all the valuables in it.
DSP Prakash announced that they have formed 10 special teams, which have fanned out into the district and are checking all the exit points.
“We will catch them very soon,” the DSP declared.
