Kali idol, gold ornaments stolen from Faridpur temple

A black-stone Kali idol and several ornaments and religious artefacts were stolen from Uttar Kalibari Temple in Faridpur city overnight, temple authorities said.

The theft took place between around 10:30pm yesterday and 5:45am today, according to the temple management committee.

The stolen items include the Kali idol, around 7-8 tolas of gold ornaments worn by it, small brass idols of Bishnu, Radha-Krishna and Manasa, and a silver snake weighing around 8-10 tolas that was wrapped around a Shiva Linga.

Debi Prasad Chakraborty, the temple priest, said the black-stone Kali idol was placed on a white-marble idol of Shiva.

“The white-marble Shiva idol was left behind, while the unknown thief or thieves took away the Kali idol,” he said.

The entire structure weighed around 40kg, with the Kali idol alone weighing at least 20kg, he added.

The idols were kept inside a room accessible through a wooden door with a collapsible gate on the eastern side of the temple. The thieves broke a padlock and opened the door before breaking an iron shutter gate secured with four locks, the priest said.

Kushal Chakraborty, 41, president of the temple management committee, said the CCTV cameras were out of order.

None of the other stolen items had been recovered, he said.

The committee called the national emergency service 999 around 5:45am. Police from Faridpur Kotwali Police Station arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.

Kushal later filed a general diary with the police station around noon, said its Officer-in-Charge Mahmudul Hasan.

Faridpur Superintendent of Police Shahriar Mohammad Miazi and the OC visited the temple, while a Criminal Investigation Department crime scene team collected evidence and cordoned off the area.

“Several police teams have already started working to identify and arrest those involved in the theft,” Mahmudul Hasan told reporters.