Chennai: Kanchi temple broken into, bronze idol stolen

CHENNAI: A 50-year-old Chamundeswari temple at Perumbakkam near Madurantakam in Kancheepuram district was broken into late on Tuesday night and a two-feet high bronze idol of the Goddess stolen. A case has been registered and police have launched a hunt.

The theft came to light on Wednesday morning when the chief priest came to open the temple and to his shock found the door lock broken and the idol missing from its pedestal. The priest immediately informed the temple trustees who in turn informed the police personnel. A team from the Madurantakam station soon arrived at the place and held inquiries with the temple authorities and the priest.

A team of fingerprint experts later lifted several sets of fingerprints from the spot of the burglary and sent them to the police lab for analysis. Police suspect that the burglar or burglars may have done a recce of the temple and monitored the everyday routine of the priest and the others before striking late in the night on Tuesday.

The priest told police that when he performed the last evening prayer for the goddess there were about 50 devotees present. He then locked the sanctum sanctorum, closed all the other doors in the temple and left for home after informing the trustees, he added.

Apart from goddess’s bronze idol, whose value is still being ascertained, cash offered by the devotees was missing from the hundi placed inside the sanctum sanctorum. The temple authorities didn’t install CCTV cameras on the premises and the police team tasked with tracking down the suspects is now scanning the footage from CCTV cameras installed at residences and shops near the temple for clues to the crime.

The Chamundeeshwari temple had set up in Perumbakkam village more than five decades ago and a priest selected by the villagers performs routine prayers in the morning and evening as well as special rituals.