Rs 7 lakh stolen from Durgiana Temple

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

Unidentified persons decamped with Rs 7 lakh from an almirah in the Durgiana Temple management office hall inside the premises of the shrine here last night.

Interestingly, the accused took away the cash in the denomination of Rs 2,000 only while they left the remaining amount in the denomination of Rs 500 to Rs 20 inside the almirah. The total cash amounted to Rs 13.71 lakh, said Ramesh Sharma, president of the Durgiana Temple Management Committee.

The police authorities as well as members of the management committee suspected the involvement of an insider. The accused were in the knowledge of CCTV cameras installed in the hall and had put a cloth over it. The incident occurred at around 9.30 pm.

Sharma said all members of the committee had closed down the office at around 7 pm due to the Diwali festival. They had collected the donations and kept these in the almirah as a routine after counting them.

Today, when the members reached the office at around 7 am, they found the door of the wooden almirah broken and the cash missing. They immediately informed the Durgiana Temple police in this connection.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the room had not been bolted properly where the cash almirah was located. When the rush at the temple complex diminished, the accused secretly entered the room and later broke open the almirah and decamped with the cash.

Shivdarshan Singh, SHO, Civil Lines, said the involvement of an insider could not be ruled out and added that investigations were underway. It has been learnt that the police had made a list of suspects and their interrogation was under progress. Police officials were hopeful of cracking the case soon.

Within 24 hours of the burglary at Durgiana Temple, the police arrested two persons and recovered an amount in lakhs of rupees from their possession. Those arrested were identified as Vishal Marwaha of Ranjhe Di Haveli in the walled city. Besides, the police arrested his cousin, Vipin Kumar. Both are employees of the Durgiana committee. Their third accomplice, Neeraj Kumar, a software engineer, was yet to be arrested.

ADCP Lakhbir singh confirmed the development while adding that further investigations were on. He said Marwaha was the accountant of the temple.