KOLHAPUR: Around 1.5kg silver ornaments were stolen from a Ganesh pandal at Rajaram chowk in Timber Market area in Kolhapur. The theft took place in the wee hours of Wednesday, when the members of the pandal were asleep. Police are further investigating with the members of the pandal.
Pruthviraj Narke, head of the Rajaram chowk Tarun Mandal, said, “We have placed a 5 feet Ganesh idol in our pandal and decorated it with around 12kg of silver ornaments. A few members of the group sleep in the pandal at night. On Wednesday morning, we realised that four silver rings weighing 200gm and two silver bracelet (kada) weighing 1,260gm were missing from the idol.”
This year, the government has allowed public Ganesh mandals to put up pandals, but prohibited processions. It has encouraged mandals to offer online ‘darshan’ to the devotees.
Meanwhile, the police are questioning the group members. Inspector Dattatreya Nale of Juna Rajwada police station said, “We have checked the CCTV footage in the area but no suspect was found roaming in the area. Primary investigation suggests that the theft might have happened on Wednesday between 3am and 5am. The members who were sleeping in the pandal have been investigated thoroughly but still the thieves have not been identified.”
