The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Silver, cash stolen from Mariamman temple

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Silver, cash stolen from Mariamman temple

By Our Staff Reporter

The stolen temple hundi, which was recovered later on Monday. — Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI, MARCH 28. Thieves scaled the compound wall of the Mariamman temple in Ayanavaram, broke the doors of the sanctum sanctorum and another `sannadhi,' and made off with silver articles worth Rs. 1 lakh and about Rs. 5,000 in cash early today.

This is the third time that the temple has been broken into in the last two years.

P. H. Thyagarajan, president of the temple trust, said that the burglary came to light when the temple priest, N. Sambandhamoorthy, reached the temple on Konnur High Road around 5.45 a.m.and opened the main gate. When he reached the sanctum sanctorum, he saw the lock broken and the gate open. He informed the temple trustees who in turn alerted the police.

The priest said that the intruders had turned off the power and in the dark removed the `thaali', weighing five sovereigns, adorning the main deity. They also removed silver articles including the crown, soolam (trident) and other items, weighing five kilograms, the priest said.

The intruders also broke open the Murugar sannadhi and removed the hundi. It was found abandoned nearby with the collection removed.

The hundi had been kept there to raise funds for the kumbabishekam of the temple to be held next month. The authorities were unable to assess the exact amount stolen.

House break-in

Two persons broke into a house in N Block, Anna Nagar, and took away jewellery weighing 70 sovereigns today.

Police said the robbery took place after the resident, Sharmili, a software professional, left for work around 8.30 a.m. Her husband was not in station. They said that a woman on the second floor of the house saw strangers entering and leaving Sharmili's house on the first floor but had assumed that they were visitors.

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Tamil Nadu