Jaipur: A group of devotees who gathered for morning prayers at the dargah of Hazrat Saman Dewan in Nagaur were in for a shock when they saw a pile of crumpled notes strewn on the floor.
As more people arrived and the management of the dargah was informed, they sat down to count the money which amounted to Rs 93,514.
The dargah management members then made a startling claim that the money was the same that was stolen one month back by thieves.
Sharafat Ali, who reached the dargah in the morning was the first to see the pile of notes. He told the caretakers at the dargah and the police was informed which arrived on the spot and took the money in their possession.
Sohanlal Firdoda assistant sub-inspector at the Badi Khatu police station said one month back some unidentified persons had stolen Rs 2 lakh from the donation box kept in the dargah situated in Badi Khatu village of Nagaur district.
The dargah management had filed an FIR but police was unable to trace those who committed the theft.
Firdoda said the dargah committee members claimed that the pile of money was the same that was stolen a month back from the donation box.
“The money was mostly in small denominations such as Rs 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200. They were pressed together as if they had been kept under a heavy stone,” he said.
He said every three months the money in the donation box is emptied and the money is counted in presence of police. "The money usually is around Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 1.95 lakh and so the dargah committee members claimed that the money is the same that was stolen," said Firdoda.
He said police have seized the money and if the dargah management committee members want the money back, they should approach the court and get an order from there.
The thief had broken the lock of the donation box on the night of December 17 and stolen Rs 2 lakh. The dargah management committee had filed an FIR with police which made no headway in the case in one month.
The identity of the thief could not be ascertained as the cameras installed at the dargah were not working on the night of December 17 when the theft took place. Since the cameras are still not working, the identity of those who returned the money too is not known.
