M F AHMED
Daltonganj, Oct 23: On the intervening night of this Wednesday / Thursday, some thieves trespassed in a Muslim holy shrine at Shahpur and decamped with charity cash there.
The burglary was discovered when the Mojawir of the shrine, S Queirishi, went to open the gate for the faithful to visit the shrine.
Uday Kr Gupta, officer-in-charge of the Chainpur police station confirmed this theft in the shrine and said petty criminals are behind it. He said police are investigating this case and it would be cracked soon.
SP Palamu, Chandan Kumar Sinha, said he has directed the local police to act fast and nab the miscreants.
Sources said this theft of the charity money in the Muslim shrine was no small episode. There were a plethora of speculations as to who could have done this intrusion and theft in the shrine and there were as many versions as there were the tongues.
It was the SP Chandan Kumar Sinha and his Chainpur police team that worked hard to keep the communal fabric intact.
On the other hand, the very next intervening night of Thursday /Friday, a similar intrusion was made by the thieves in a goddess Durga temple again at Shahpur where the thieves removed the charity cash and even walked down with oblation offered to the goddess.
Police officer Gupta again confirming this theft in the goddess Durga temple said it cannot be ruled out that the same group of thieves is involved in the theft that was responsible for the shrine theft.
The main priest of this temple discovered this theft in the morning of Friday only, said the police officer.
Incidentally, both the theft in the places of worship took place in Shahpur and not very far from the police station as well.
This incident which occurred in the temple put a variety of speculations to rest.
The theft in the shrine first and then in the temple, both occurrences taking place at night made people of all sections understand that thieves are on the prowl and even the saint’s shelter or goddess’ abode is not safe from their intrusion.
There was one big consolation at both the places of worship where the burglary was committed as no sacrilege at any of the two places of worship was found. Nothing was defiled there at all.
Sources said about 12 or 13 years ago some bad elements had raided the shrine at Shahpur and desecrated it when Palamu had Deepak Verma as its SP. According to them, pre Diwali crime goes up in Palamu or elsewhere in Jharkhand as here it is tradition and chance to play gambling. Chainpur is notorious for many hidden gambling dens.
The SP said police will keep a strict vigil on such locations in the wake of the Diwali festival which is round the corner.
