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
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