VARANASI: A 17th century handwritten copy of Tulsidas's Ramcharit Manas was stolen from Goswami Tulsidas Temple here on Thursday. The temple is situated on the premises of Sankat Mochan temple's trustee Veerbahdra Mishra's house near Tulsighat. Sankat Mochan temple was built by Goswami Tulsidas. Mishra's son Mahant Vishwanbharnath Mishra said that the temple remains closed between 12 noon and 3pm. When the temple priest opened its gate after 3pm, he noticed that a door fixed with the sidewall of temple was broken and the manuscript wrapped in a red cloth was missing. He immediately reported the matter to the mahant and his family members. Taking a serious note of the incident, Vishwambhar Mishra lodged a complaint with the local Bhelupur police station. The news of the theft spread fast and before senior police officials could reach the spot hundreds of locals had already assembled at Tulsighat. Mishra later said that the manuscript was found 24 years after Tulsidas's death in 1623 and kept in the temple since 1701. Although Mishras were not forthcoming about the origin of the handwritten book, it is widely believed that a disciple of Goswami Tulsidas had made a copy from the original manuscript written by him. Varanasi police chief Ram Kumar said that an FIR had already been lodged in this connection. He said that after initial investigation it was suspected that a person who knew the importance of this manuscript was involved in this incident. He hoped that the stolen manuscript would be recovered very soon. He said whether it was original version of Ramcharit Manas written by Goswami Tulsidas himself or some of his disciple wrote it would become clear after it would be produced before the experts following its recovery.