Thief Returns Stolen Ornaments To Temple Near Bhubaneswar After 9 Years

Bhubaneswar: Call it God’s hand or prick of conscience, a thief has returned the ornaments stolen from a temple on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar along with a penalty.

As per reports, a Maha Yajna was organised on the premises of Gopinath temple at Dhauli near Bhubaneswar in 2014. During the yajna, the priest of the temple brought the idols of Radha and Krishna adorned with their silver ornaments for performing puja. For some time, the priest had left the yajna and when he returned, he found the ornaments of the idols missing.

The villagers had filed a complaint in this regard at the local police station. The police had registered a case and started investigation but failed to trace either the thief or the ornaments.

Surprisingly, the temple priest found a polythene bag containing all stolen ornaments of the deities along with a hand note purportedly written by the thief. Admitting that he had stolen the ornaments 9 years back, the thief  wrote, “After stealing the Lords’ ornaments, I have suffered a lot all these 9 years. I have realised that it was due to the crime committed by me. Therefore, I decided to return the ornaments.”

Besides the note, which was written in English, the thief also left Rs 100 towards the penalty and Rs 200 as donation to the temple, the sources said. However, the identity of the thief has not been ascertained.