ANJUNA BHUMIKA DEVI TEMPLE BURGLED To the surprise of Gaumvaddy residents, the Bhumika Devi Temple at Sonar Vaddo, Gaumvaddy, Anjuna, was burgled in the wee hours today.
The burglary came to light when the sweeper entered the temple at around 6:30 a.m. and noticed broken padlocks lying on the floor. He immediately informed the temple members who live next door. The burglars made their entry into the temple through a small area of tile roof next to the concrete terrace. They removed Mangalore tiles and landed in the corridor of the temple. The temple has one main entrance which is secured by a collapsing steel door; it has three padlocks. There is another collapsing steel door fixed to the back exit door; it also has three padlocks. There are two exits on either side of the temple, which are also fixed with collapsing steel doors. None of these doors or padlocks were broken. In addition, there are several windows on each side of the temple, which are fitted with steel grilles. The main temple altar has two doors – one inner door with wooden frame and iron bars; and one outer collapsing steel door. While the former has one self lock and two padlocks, the latter has five padlocks. They did not break any padlocks of the outer door. However, they forcibly removed part of the collapsing steel door rod from the lower channel, bent it and created a little gap of about 8 inches through which they entered – only a small person could enter through the gap. The space between the outer and inner door is a little over a foot. They meticulously broke the three locks of the inner door and made an entry into main altar area. They removed the gold ornaments from Bhumika Devi and also removed the silver “prabhavar” or arch, which is worth about Rs.2-3 lakhs. They also removed the outer frame from the niche where the Utsav Murti of Bhumika Devi is kept. They then raised the glass and removed gold ornaments from the deity. Furthermore, they broke one of the padlocks of the ‘Fund petti or box’ and took away all the bills – they did not take any coins. The total value of stolen items is approximately Rs.5 lakhs. For the information of readers, the temple is surrounded by houses and it is located only about 25 meters from the main road. Anjuna police were immediately contacted and a formal complaint was lodged; finger prints were taken. They managed to get only one finger print. >From the modus operandi, the burglars seem to be professionals. Since none of the doors were broken, the burglars must have exited the temple from the entry point – a stool was used to get to the roof. The temple was robbed once before around twenty five years ago. At that time the snuffer dogs had led the police to a local’s house but he denied robbing it. Surprisingly, within a month the man died without leaving behind any clue of illness, but it was revealed to the family of the deceased that Bhumika Devi had gotten rid of him. His other two accomplices died simultaneously! Moi-mogan, Domnic Fernandes Anjuna, Goa Mob: 9420979201 _________________________________________________________________ New Windows 7: Find the right PC for you. Learn more. http://windows.microsoft.com/shop