Berhampur: Unidentified thieves broke into the over 500-year-old Tara Tarini Temple in Ganjam district late Tuesday night, decamping with silver ornaments worth around Rs 10 lakh.
The stolen items include silver crowns, ceremonial umbrellas and face masks of the twin deities. While the perpetrators attempted to break open the main donation box, they were unsuccessful but managed to loot two other donation boxes outside the temple.
The break-in was discovered early on Wednesday when priests discovered broken locks at the temple’s entrance and missing ornaments. The thieves gained access to the sanctum sanctorum, situated 780 feet above sea level, by breaking three locks, including the main entrance grill.
“We have deployed a forensic team and dog squad for investigation,” said Ganjam SP Suvendu Kumar Patra, who visited the spot. However, the absence of CCTV cameras at the shrine, which underwent a Rs 117-crore upgrade in 2022, is creating problems in getting clues.
Tara Tarini Sevayat Sangh filed an FIR at Purushottampur police station in connection with the theft. A temple watchman was allegedly sleeping during the incident.
This is not the first time the temple has been targeted. In 1994, thieves stole the original astadhatu (eight-metal) idols of the deities.
A BJD fact-finding team, led by former Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu, visited the site on party president Naveen Patnaik’s directions. “We will submit a report to the party chief soon,” Sahu said.