Vadodara ISKCON temple theft: ‘Odisha man plotted temple thefts watching virtual tours, arrested with Rs 20 lakh worth ornaments’

Zone 2 Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhay Soni said that apart from Iskcon temple, where the accused committed theft on the intervening night of April 12 and escaped with the booty to Nagpur in Maharashtra on a private luxury bus, Das had also watched videos of other temples in Gujarat, including the Swaminarayan temple in Karelibaug.

“As part of his modus operandi, Das — who visited different cities in the garb of a garment vendor — watched videos of the virtual tours of the temples on YouTube and prepared his plan to commit the theft. He then visited the temple and conducted recce about the timings and movement of persons. He tried to befriend the staff to inquire about the blueprint of the temples. Wherever the temples felt accessible, he committed theft,” he said.

According to police, Das committed the theft between 10 pm on April 11 and 3 am on April 12 and returned to a hotel room in Sayajigunj where he had put up during his stay in Vadodara. The theft at Iskcon temple in Gotri was discovered by the priest at dawn and the police were immediately alerted.

“We used human and technical intelligence, including CCTV footage. The accused had been caught on the CCTV camera and his face was clearly visible in the CCTV inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple from where he stole the ornaments. Thereafter, his movement could be traced on the CCTV and we were able to ascertain that he returned to his hotel room. He checked out in the wee hours almost instantly and boarded a bus to Nagpur. We were able to ascertain details of his travel and intimate the Nagpur police in Maharashtra, which nabbed him on arrival and handed over custody to the Vadodara police,” the DCP said.

“We are also probing if any insiders had knowingly or unknowingly helped him in his plot. The ornaments worth Rs 20.73 lakh that he had stolen has been recovered from him,” Soni said.

Das was booked in several cases of theft previously — three of which are registered in Nagpur in 2015 and one in Goa’s North Panaji police station in 2022. He has also been previously arrested for thefts at Siddhanath temple and Srikakulam temple in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively. A total of 60 temple idols have been recovered from his possession in the past.

According to the complaint filed by the Iskcon temple management at Gotri police station, the accused decamped with gold jewellery, including two gold bangles weighing 53.29 grams worth Rs 3.51 lakh, two gold mohanmala weighing 17.28 grams and 9.87 grams worth Rs 1.79 lakh, gold chains weighing 9.9 grams and 17.55 grams worth Rs 1.8 lakh, a gold necklace of 17.1 grams worth Rs 1.12 lakh, a gold mangalsutra of 16.20 grams worth Rs 1.05 lakh, and a Dakshinamani gold chain worth Rs 70,000 apart from silver articles worth Rs 10.78 lakh.