Beltangady: Basadi thefts - SP urges heads of religious places to reinforce security
Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)
Beltangady, Jun 21: Dakshina Kannada district superintendent of police, Abhishek Goyal, urged those administering ancient temples and Basadis in the taluk to effectively tackle the issue of repeated thefts there. He opined that the role of locals in volunteering to protect these structures from thieves can make lot of difference.
He was addressing a meeting of heads of temples and Basadis from the taluk, which was convened at Sannidhi guest house at Dharmasthala on Thursday June 20.
The participants of the meeting were given some instructions and information about the steps to be taken to stop thefts, robberies etc which normally take place in temples and Basadis immediately after the onset monsoon every year. It was noted that the heads or managing committee representatives of a number of religious places, who promptly criticize the police personnel when theft takes place, stayed away from the meeting, even after receiving the invite. They could have paid at least a courtesy visit, if they were sure of foolproof security of the structures managed by them, it was felt.
“The police department is facing acute shortage of staff. Beltangady police station has staff strength of 40. We have impressed upon the home minister to post additional personnel. As we do not have any budget left, the department is unable to install closed circuit television cameras at strategic spots. We suggest to the temples and Basadis to rope in the services of night watchmen, besides fixing closed circuit television cameras. From our side, we will convene meetings of officials and request for strengthening of the Coast Guard, to lay emphasis on this issue,” Goyal said.
Abhishek Goyal also promised to set up special police task force in the taluk to rein in the rising incidents of crime. He promised to arrange for setting up check posts at important roads since Thursday, and prepare a sketch about the locations of all the religious centres in the taluk within a week.
State convener of Karnataka Jain Swayam Seva Sangh, Nemiraj Ariga, lawyer, Shashikiran Jain, and taluk unit president of Karnataka State Government Employees Association, Jayakeerti Jain, came up with certain suggestions on the issue.
Deputy superintendent of police, Sadanand Varnekar, police circle inspector, Sudhakar Naik, sub-inspector, Yogeesh Kumar, Bangadi Basadi president, Rajshekhar Ajri, Dharmasthala Ratnavarma Jain, Bhujabali Dharmasthala, and representatives and heads of various temples and Basadis participated in the meeting.
Abhishek Goyal visits Bangadi Basadi
Following cases of theft which took place at Bangadi Basadi where idols of Sri Adinatha Swamy, Vrishabhanatha Swamy, Dharmanatha Swamy, and Mahaveera Swamy were stolen, SP Abhishek Goyal on Thursday June 20 visited the spot and held discussions with the Basadi heads.
Goyal assured police support in the event of any problem and asked them to inform the police whenever such issues arise.
Circle inspector Sudhakar Nayak, sub-inspector Yogeesh Kumar, local leaders Nemiraj Ariga, advocate Shashikiran, and Bhujabali Dharmasthala were present.