On April 4, unidentified thieves killed a temple priest and stole 13 idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses worth crores from Ram Janaki Temple located near Jogi Baba Math on Chapra Mashrakh Marg in district Saran Bihar. When the thieves attacked the temple, 75-years-old priest Gorakhnath Das was present on the premises. The thieves killed him by strangulation and stole the idols and jewellery.
The villagers came to know about the incident on Tuesday morning when they reached the temple to offer prayers. They saw the broken idols and thrashed items across the temple premises and rushed to check on the temple priest in his room. When he did not open the door, the rest of the village was informed, and the police were called. The locals believe the priest might have identified the thieves after which he was brutally murdered.
As per a report by Deswa News, every year Jhanda Yatra takes place from the temple on Hanuman Jayanti. The flag used in the procession has gold work on it. The thieves, who seem to be well informed about the flag, came to steal but it was already moved by temple authorities. It used to be kept in a box in temple which was broken by the thieves.
The police initiated the investigation, and the dead body of the priest was sent for post-mortem. DSP Muneshwar Prasad Singh said in a statement that the crime would be solved soon. Contrary to the claims made by the locals about the idols, SP Santosh Kumar said in a statement that the idols were not made of expensive metal and were bought recently. He added the police were also checking if there was a land dispute.
Locals accuse police of inaction
Locals have accused police of inaction against the miscreants in the region. The business owners have alleged that the police have failed to nab the thieves in recent robberies resulting in an increase in the crime rate. Notably, a few days prior to the robbery in the temple, PN Jewelers in Kashi Market was hit by the robbers, and they fled with jewellery worth one crore.
