Six held for stealing silver ornaments and cash from Tara Tarini Temple

Bhubaneswar, Nov 15: Six individuals, including two night watchmen and four temple sevayats, have been arrested in connection with the theft of valuable ornaments and cash from the Tara Tarini Temple atop Kumari Hill in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

The accused have been identified as night watchmen Kalia Dash (35) and Balaram Nayak (45), along with sevayats Amulya Rana (28), Bikash Rana (20), Rabin Kumar Rana, and Goutam Rana.

According to Purushottampur SDPO Rajani Kanta Samal, a cutter machine was recovered from Kalia, electrical equipment from Balaram, and Rs 21,000 in cash from Amulya, while Rabin was found with an additional Rs 18,000. However, the police are still searching for the missing silver ornaments, including the deities' face masks and a decorated umbrella, which are valued at Rs 10 lakh.

The theft, which occurred on November 4 after the culprits broke into the temple, was discovered the following morning. As a result of the incident, the temple management has installed six new CCTV cameras for better security.