MAPUSA: Two cases of theft were reported in two different temples in Bardez where unknown persons decamped with valuables worth over 1 lakh in both the incidents.

The theft cases were reported at Shree Ganapati temple at Madel in Tivim and Shree Vans temple in Saterinagar in Camurlim on Thursday night.

A theft case was reported in Shree Ganapati temple on the day of its annual zatra where unknown persons broke the main door of the temple and decamped with the donation box, silver ornaments and a CD player from the temple worth around 1 lakh.

The incident came to light at about 5am as the villagers came early for the preparation of the zatra and saw the temple door broken open.

The villagers, in panic, approached the Mapusa police station. Two years ago, a theft case was reported at this temple and the devasthan committee installed CCTV cameras in the temple.

Sources said that a CCTV camera has captured three persons while plotting the theft. One remained outside the temple and two accused entered the temple and committed the theft at about 1.30am. They were wearing red-and-black jackets and their faces were covered with cloth masks. The temple committee has handed over the CCTV footage to the Mapusa police.

In a separate incident, unknown accused persons entered into the Vans temple in Saterinagar, Camurlim, and stole the donation box. They broke it open at a distance of around 300m from the temple in the jungle area.

The incident came to light when one of the locals saw the damaged donation box dumped in the jungle in the morning. Mapusa PI Tushar Vernekar and PSI Atiskesh inspected both the theft sites. Further investigation in the cases are in progress.

