Temple thefts decline by 56 pc in Himachal

Bhanu P Lohumi

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Shimla, August 19

Himachal, known as the abode of gods and goddesses, have reported 356 cases of the temple theft in the past 10 years since 2012 of which accused in 204 (57 per cent) cases are still untraced.

Valuables worth Rs 3.77 crore were stolen in these thefts of which items worth Rs 1.59 crore have been recovered. However, the silver lining is that the temple theft has declined drastically by about 56 per cent.

The maximum number of 86 thefts took place in Shimla district followed by Solan (61), Kullu (41), Bilaspur (33), Kangra (32), Una (29), Sirmaur (25), Mandi (19) Hamirpur (12), Kinnaur (10), Chamba (6), and Lahaul and Spiti (2).

Of the 356 cases, 204 are unresolved, 91 are pending in courts, accused have been convicted and acquitted in 24 and 15 cases, while in rest of the cases, investigation is pending or cases are either withdrawn or cancelled.

Stealing of idols from Raghunath and Hanuman temples made of ashtdhatu, stone shila of Narsinghji, idol of Lord Ganesha along with other silver ornaments from temple, besides 10 kg of silver valuing Rs 32 lakh from Raghunath Temple in Kullu on December 9, 2014, sent shock waves in the Kullu valley as Lord Raghunath is the presiding deity of 300 local deities of the valley and the famous Kullu Dasehra rituals revolve around him.

The maximum number of 45, 65 and 53 (total 163) temple thefts was reported in 2012, 2013 and 2014 but after the Raghunath Temple theft, the police issued guidelines for a strict vigil on temples and the number of theft reduced by almost 56 per cent to 26, 27 and 18 (total 71) in 2019, 2020 and 2021. As many as 21 thefts have been reported in 2022 till date.

“The three-week investigation, which led to the recovery of Lord Raghunath and other idols, made us realise that temple thefts are an attack on our heritage and culture. Since then, we have taken the temple thefts very seriously and put in place security and inventory management for all temples,” said DGP Sanjay Kundu.

Starting with Shakti Peeths in the state, steps, including CCTV camera saturation, ITMS installation, elaborate standard-operating procedures (SOPs) and designating the local SHO as the Temple Security Officer, had been initiated and they were also encouraging other temple trusts to invest in security measures, he added.