A sense of guilt engulfed a thief who sacrificed a 100-year-old idol of Ashtadhatu days after stealing it from a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj as he suffered ‘bad consequences’ after committing the crime, police said on Thursday.
As it happened, the thief left the stolen picture on the side of the highway along with a letter of apology expressing regret for stealing it.
According to the police, the 100-year-old Ashtadhatu idol was stolen from the Ram Janaki temple at Nawabganj in Prayagraj on September 23. The incident was reported to the police by the temple authorities.
The temple priest was so traumatized by the theft that he continued to fast in protest. 10 days after the theft was reported, passers-by found the photo inside a sack on the Gaughat link road on the national highway. They say this idol belongs to Swami Jai Ramdas Maharaj.
People then took it to the Gaughat Khalsa Ashram and when the sack was opened, a book and an idol were found. It was written by the thief, who apologized for his actions and showed remorse.
In the letter of apology, the thief said, “Maharaj ji (teacher), I made a big mistake. Due to my ignorance, I stole the idol of Radha Krishna from Gaughat. Since then, I have been having nightmares and my son’s health has deteriorated. I did something terrible with some money. I leave the idol and ask for forgiveness for my mistake. Please forgive me and return the idol to the temple. Its position has been changed to hide its identity. Maharaj Ji, forgive our children and accept your idol”.
After the priest returned the image, he reinstalled it in the temple.
Meanwhile, the police are looking for the person who stole the idol. There is currently no information about the thief, who he is or where he is.
The police are looking at the images taken from the CCTV cameras installed near the temple, nearby areas and the highway where the image was found. The investigation is ongoing, police said.
(With input from Anand Raj.)