Moodbidri: Theft at Basadi - Police release sketch of suspect
Daijiworld Media Network – Moodbidri (SP)
Moodbidri, Jul 8: City police commissioner, Manish Kharbikar, on Sunday July 7, released a sketch of the suspected thief who took away several idols worth crores of rupees from Siddhant Darshan Mandir of Gurugala Basadi here on Friday July 5 night.
The sketch has been prepared on the basis of the accounts provided by some people who had seen the suspect loitering around Jain Pete area of the town two days back under suspicious circumstances, and the footage of the closed circuit television cameras fitted inside the Basadi.
The sketch was released at the police station here. Five police teams have been formed for cracking the case. The police commissioner has requested the members of the general public to provide information if any they have about persons with features resembling this sketch.
The thief is about 30 years old, is fair-complexioned, and well-built. He conversed in Hindi. The police have learnt that he told some people in Hindi that he wanted to visit Dharmasthala, and was asking for directions to reach there. It is thought that he would have boarded an auto rickshaw in the town to reach Dharmasthala on Saturday morning.
It has now transpired that the siren failed to blare not because of the thief. The security staff of the Basadi forgot to switch the siren to ‘on’ position by marking their thumb impressions. This came in handy for the thief. During police questioning, the security staff claimed that they used to promptly keep the siren in ‘on’ position on other days, but had forgotten to do so only on Friday night.
The fact that gas cylinders, box etc have been left behind by the thief gives an indication that more than one person would have been involved with the theft, although CCTV footages showed only one person. The fact that he correctly cut off a part of the shutter to ensure that sensors are not touched, gives an indication that he knew everything about the Basadi. The thief had reached the window through which he gained entry into the Basadi by jumping the wall of Leppada Basadi. Most people here do not know that one can reach this building in this way. This also gives an indication that the thief was well-versed with the Basadi structure.
It is almost certain that security failure contributed to the success of the theft. Now there is a proposal to keep the idols in the building in bank lockers till fool proof security arrangements are made.