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NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 22, 2004: Gold and diamond ornaments worth tens of thousands of dollars (US) were found missing from the Kalkaji Temple in South Delhi on Wednesday morning. The theft is suspected to have taken place on the intervening night of July 20-21. On Tuesday night, police said, the temple was closed at around 11 pm after the aarti was done. The temple has 12 exit points out of which 11 doors are bolted while the main door is locked every night. The theft was first noticed by the priest, Trilok Chand Bhardwaj when he opened the doors of the temple at around 4 am on Wednesday. “The ornaments that adorned the icon of goddess Durga which include a nag (nose pin), tika (jewelry on forehead) and eyebrow were found missing,” said Praveer Ranjan, DCP, south district. While the nag and tika were of gold, the eyebrow was made of diamonds and gold. The ornaments are worth around $6,500 and had been donated by Babu Nagpal of Chattarpur Temple around six years back. “The priests at the temple change every month in rotation and every time a different family takes charge. At present Trilok Chand Bhardwaj and his family were in charge of the temple,” Ranjan said. Five person, Ram Das, Rattan, Lambu, Sharda and Anil used to guard the temple premises every night. The five have been picked up by the police for questioning. The temple staff, the police said, suspected the role of an insider. “They have also told us that one of the doors, near Ram Piayu, had been left open on Tuesday night by mistake,” said Ranjan. The temple staff said that there have been incidents of snatching inside the temple a number of times and they had complained to the police on a number of occasions earlier. Kalkaji is one of the most ancient temples of Delhi, possibly more than 5,000 years old.

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