The temple of Maa Thave Bhavani is in Gopalganj district of Bihar. This temple is a famous Siddhapeeth, where thousands of devotees come to visit every day. On December 17, criminals committed a major theft in this temple. Jewelery and donation boxes worth about ₹1 crore were stolen from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. This also included Maa’s crown worth ₹51 lakh. The police have solved this theft incident in just seven days.
Gopalganj Police has achieved great success by arresting the main accused Deepak Rai in this case. The accused is a resident of Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. The surprising thing is that this big theft did not go unnoticed. After this incident, there was a lot of anger among the temple administration and devotees.
Mother’s jewelery has not been found yet.
During the interrogation of Gopalganj police, many important information has been received from the main accused. The police have recovered several items from the accused including the shoes worn on the day of the incident, a bag, a muffler, the cutter machine used in the theft, a mobile phone and a jacket. However, Devi’s stolen jewelery has not been found yet. Police are conducting raids in Ghazipur, Mau and Prayagraj districts of Uttar Pradesh to recover them.
Giving information about the case, Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Awadhesh Dixit said that before committing the theft, the accused had watched many videos of the crime scene on YouTube. He also watched a web series to learn how to escape from the police. The accused, along with his partner, had conducted recce of the temple on 10th and 11th December and after making a complete plan, committed the theft on the morning of 17th December.
The SP also said that Deepak Rai had reached the temple on a bike and had switched off his mobile phone before the incident to avoid being caught. The criminal history of the accused has also come to light. Earlier, on March 3, he had committed a similar theft at Sheetla Temple in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh. There also he had adopted the same method as in the theft in Thawe Bhavani temple, which made the police suspicious of him.
Pictures of two thieves emerged in CCTV footage.
It is noteworthy that after being released from jail on November 13, the accused had conspired to steal the Thawe Bhavani temple. After the theft, pictures of two thieves appeared in the CCTV footage, on the basis of which the police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh.
Considering the seriousness of the matter, a SIT team was formed. Police say that all the stolen jewelery will be recovered soon and the entire matter will be thoroughly investigated.