Mangalore: Theft at Ullal Kumpala Temple - Gold, cash stolen
Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (EP)
Mangalore, Feb 14: Thieves broke into Shree Durgaparameshwari Temple at Kumpala late night on Wednesday February 12 and looted jewellery valued at Rs 3 lac and Rs 85,000 in cash. The money had been set aside for festival expenses.
The stolen items consist of mask of the diety, Rudrakshi chain, silver ornaments on Ganapathi diety, Prabhavali of Durgadevi, idol mask partly made of gold, Karimani weighing two-and-a-half sovereigns, gold chain and other ornaments. The estimated value of the stolen gold is said to be Rs 3 lac.
The incident came to light when priest Bhavanishanker came for prayers on Thursday at 5 am. It is said that construction work is going on at the right wing of the temple and the thieves climbed over it, broke the sheet of the temple, broke the door lock and committed the theft.
Fingerprint experts and dog squad pressed into action. Ullal police have registered a case.
Later, a team of BJP leaders who visited the temple asked the police to consider the theft seriously and arrest the culprits at the earliest.
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLCs Monappa Bhandary, Ganesh Karnik, former minister Krishna J Palemar, Nagaraja Shetty, former MLA Jayarama Shetty, Pratap Simha Nayak, Zilla panchayat member Satish Kumpala and others were present.