Idols stolen from Kullu temple recovered; 1 held

Abhinav  Vashisht

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Kullu, January 23

The police on Friday recovered the idols — including that of the chief deity — stolen from the Lord Raghunath temple in Kullu on December 8 last year. The breakthrough came with the arrest of the main accused in the case Nar Prasad (28) in Nepal by a special investigation team. Prasad’s image had been captured by the lone CCTV camera at the temple. After he spilled the beans, the Kullu police swung into action and recovered the idols.

“The main idol of Lord Raghunath, the presiding deity of Kullu, along with the silver idol of Lord Ganesha and an ashtdhatu (a composite of eight metals) idol of Lord Hanuman were recovered from Bajaura, 12 km from Kullu,” said the police. The stone-carved Shaligram and Narsingh and some other ornaments were also recovered near the Boothnath temple in Sarwari in Kullu.  Kullu Superintendent of Police Surinder Verma said: “The necessary procedure to bring the culprit back to India is underway.” 

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Kundu said Nar Prasad had single- handedly executed the theft. “A close examination of the CCTV footage revealed that he had visited the temple on three consecutive days prior to the theft,” he said. He has been involved in several thefts in India and Nepal.