MP News: Man Arrested For Twin Temple Theft In Mandsaur

Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): Police arrested a 34-year-old man for allegedly stealing valuables from two temples in Mandsaur and recovered silver ornaments, donation boxes and cash from him on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Naveen Sharma, is a resident of Bhanpura and confessed to both the thefts during questioning.

As per reports, the first theft took place on January 21 at the Jagdish Temple in Jivaganj. Temple priest Jitendra Vyas filed a complaint at Kotwali police station, stating that his brother Yogesh Vyas noticed that the sanctum sanctorum’s door was open at around 4.30 am. On checking, they found the deity’s silver ornaments, mace and other items were missing.

The second theft occurred on the intervening night of March 5 and 6 at the Siddhi Vinayak Ganpati Temple near the District Cooperative Central Bank. Complainant Santosh Purohit alleged that an unknown person broke open two donation boxes and stole cash from them.

Kotwali police formed separate teams, examined CCTV camera footage and questioned suspects. Based on a tip-off from an informant, police detained Naveen and interrogated him. His walking style matched that of the person seen in the CCTV camera footage and a blanket recovered from his home helped confirm his identity.

Police recovered a silver crown, a silver peacock feather, a silver mace, a silver flute, two donation boxes and cash from the accused. Police said Naveen was booked in connection with cases of temple theft, rape and illegal weapon possession in the past and is being questioned.