Servitors Among 6 Held For Stealing Silver Ornaments From Odisha’s Tara Tarini Temple

Berhampur: Six persons, including  two night watchmen and four sevayats, have been arrested for the alleged loot of ornaments worth lakhs of rupees and cash from Tara Tarini temple atop Kumari hill in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

The accused have been identified as night watchmen Kalia Dash (35) and Balaram Nayak (45) and servitors Amulya Rana (28), Bikash Rana (20), Rabin Kumar Rana and Goutam Rana.

“A cutter machine has been seized from Kalia, some electrical equipment from Balaram and Rs 21,000 cash from Amulya and another Rs 18,000 from Rabin,” Purushottampur SDPO Rajani Kanta Samal told the media.

However, police are yet to recover silver ornaments, including the face masks and decorated umbrella, of the twin deities, he said, adding that probe is on to ascertain involvement of more people in the crime.

The accused, who entered the temple by breaking the locks of the entrance gate, decamped with silver ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh and cash from the donation box on November 4. The loot came to light the following morning.

Following the incident, the temple management has installed six CCTV cameras in strategic locations of the temple.