Bantwal: Thieves broke into Punacha Mahishamardini temple under Vittal police station limits and decamped with silver ornaments and cash worth 6.14 lakh Rupees.
Among the 16 temples in the vicinity, this is one of the oldest with a history of around 800 years. They broke through the northwestern entrance of Annapoorneshwari temple by removing roofing sheets. Thieves attempt to enter the sanctuary failed.

They broke into the secure glass enclosure and managed to take away lot of silver items weighing around 17.5 kgs and other items of Palanquin. They have also took away some gold plated items and the preliminary estimates suggest that the total value of all the items including cash from the hundi boxes is worth Rs. 6.14 lakhs.

Sniffer dogs along with police officials rushed to the spot but were unable to get any clues even after two hours of extensive search operations. According to them the thieves have used the modern equipments to execute their plan and had ensured that no finger prints are left behind. Police are examining the CCTV footages and suspect that an expert team is involved in the robbery.

Bantwal circle inspector Belliappa, Vittal Sub-inspector Prakash Devadiga and staff are conducting investigations to get few clues to crack the case. The temple administrative board secretary Sridhar Shetty has lodged an official complaint. A separate team has been formed to nab the culprits.