In an unusual move, nine years after stealing expensive ornaments from a temple in Odisha's Gopinathpur, the thief returned the booty on Monday and said that he was sorry for his actions, in two anonymous apology notes written in English.
In the notes, the thief confessed that he had committed the crime in May 2014.
Thief donates money
He also left ₹301 in the bag containing the silver ornaments, giving a breakup of ₹201 as donation and ₹100 as penalty for his crime.
"I had taken the ornaments when a yagna was being performed at the temple and after that I faced a lot of problems in life. Hence, after 9 years I decided to surrender before the Gods and return the ornaments," read the note.
"I am not mentioning my name, address or village," the note added further.
Ornaments worth ₹4 lakh
The anonymous thief left the bag of ornaments worth ₹4 lakh outside a house adjacent to the Gopinath Temple from where he had stolen earrings, bracelets, flutes, and headgear belonging to God Krishna and Goddess Radha.
Debesh Kumar Mohanty, the house owner, had conducted the yagna at the temple. The thief left the bag outside his house along with the regret note.
Temple priest Kailash Panda described the recovery of the stolen ornaments as nothing less than a miracle.
Locals have informed the police about the incidents. And an investigation is underway.
