Karnataka : 'Devotee' steals gold from temple idol; held

BENGALURU: When he walked into a temple and sat in front of the deity deeply immersed in the latter's thoughts, everyone around was impressed. Priest Badrinath too was floored by the devotion the man displayed. But the story ended in anti-climax: The devotee turned out to be a thief!
Srirampura police have arrested 35-year-old S Kallesh on charges of stealing ornaments of the goddess and have packed him off to jail. Cops have recovered stolen jewellery worth Rs 4 lakh from him.
The devotion drama unfolded on August 20 at Kannika Parameshwari Temple in Srirampura near Malleswaram when Kallesh, a resident of Mandya, walked in posing as a staunch devotee. His mannerisms were such that no one suspected him and, instead, thought he was a god-fearing person. While priest Badrinath went about with the puja, Kallesh sat in front of the idol with his hands folded and eyes closed. After some time, Kallesh left the temple premises.
While cleaning the idol the next morning, Badrinath noticed that a silver chain (35 grams) and two gold 'talis' were missing from the idol. A baffled Badrinath viewed the CCTV footage and was shocked to see the same man, Kallesh, fleeing with the chain. He immediately lodged a police complaint.
Cops swung into action and started tracking Kallesh's movements since the time he left the temple by collecting video footage from several surveillance cameras. They checked CCTV footage of BMTC bus terminals, railway stations and KSRTC bus terminals on the night of August 20 and found Kallesh boarding a Mysuru-bound train. Soon, a special team of Srirampura police visited the railway stations of Bidadi, Ramanagara, Channapatna, Maddur and Mandya. On scanning CCTV footage at these stations, the team finally saw Kallesh alighting from a train the same night in Mandya. In no time, police knocked on his door and arrested him. They recovered around 80 grams of gold and a few silver chains from him.
Investigation revealed Kallesh had targeted at least eight temples in the past six months and had fled with gold or silver chains and ornaments using the same modus operandi. He had targeted five temples in and around Srirampura and one each in Hanumantanagar, Peenya and Magadi in Ramanagara district.
"Kallesh would sit for hours before the sanctorum with folded hands. He would steal ornaments from idols whenever priests went out or were distracted," an officer said. Probe revealed he never targeted temples with CCTV cameras. But he failed to notice the cameras installed at Kannika Parameshwari Temple.