Balaji temple priest foils robbery bid

But for the presence of mind displayed by the head priest of the famous Birla Mandir here, Lord Venkateswara would have been left poorer by ...

But for the presence of mind displayed by the head priest of the famous Birla Mandir here, Lord Venkateswara would have been left poorer by about Rs 2 crore this morning.

When armed robbers barged into the temple around 6.45 am, head priest C.H. Sampath Kumar Acharyulu and his colleague S. Jayaram Bhattacharya were attending to morning rituals.

Eyewitnesses said the two robbers were wearing monkey caps and dark glasses. One of them threw chilli powder at Bhattacharya’s eyes, while the other, carrying a weapon, ran towards the sanctum sanctorum. Sensing trouble, Acharyalu promptly bolted the door of the shrine from inside.

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There were not many devotees in the temple at that time but hearing Bhattacharya scream in pain, about 15 people, including security guard Narsing Rao and sweeper Lakshmi, rushed to the spot.

According to Bhattacharya, the robbers had warned him in Telugu against raising an alarm and said they were Naxalites.

DCP (Central Zone) C.V. Anand told The Indian Express that the intention of the miscreants must have been to steal the gold ornaments of the deity, weighing around 38.5 kg.

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