The Vashi police have arrested a 30-year-old differently-abled man for allegedly stealing cash and gold worth Rs 10.3 lakh from the Jain temple’s locker in Vashi on Wednesday.
The accused, Prakash Durgashankar, has been working as an assistant to the main priest for the past ten years. The police said the accused stole cash and gold during renovation work at the temple in mid-August. However, the theft came to light on August 29, when the trustee opened the locker.
According to the police, two gold biscuits (weighing 100 grams each) worth Rs 8 lakh and Rs 2.3 lakh in cash were kept in the temple locker along with several other valuables. The keys to the locker were normally kept with two trustees and they had found everything intact on August 13.
The main priest took the keys from them on August 17 to undertake painting work and returned it back to them on August 19. When the trustees checked the locker on August 29, they found the gold biscuits and cash missing.
Senior inspector Ramesh Chavan said, “When the painting work was underway, one day the main priest left the keys in a drawer at the temple and went home for lunch. The accused stole the cash and the gold biscuits and kept the keys back in the drawer.”
There are CCTV cameras in the temple but they were disconnected due to renovation. “Initially, the main priest was the main suspect. However, during the course of the investigation, he was found to be innocent,” added Chavan.
Durgashankar was taken into custody and admitted to committing the crime during interrogation. “We arrested the accused on Wednesday after his confession. So far, we have recovered the stolen gold biscuits. He said he spent the cash for some work,” he added.
The police have booked the accused under section 380 of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced before the judicial court and has been remanded to police custody.
