Lake Town temple burglary: Three held

Kolkata: Bidhannagar Police arrested three men for the August 26 burglary at the Hanuman temple in Lake Town and recovered all stolen ornaments, including the deity’s crown. The break-in took place between 1.45 am and 2.45 am, when a four-member gang entered the B-Block temple and stole gold and silver ornaments and valuables worth around Rs 1.5 crore. CCTV footage captured the entire incident. The priest discovered the theft at 5 am and filed a complaint with Lake Town Police. A joint investigation by Lake Town Police and Bidhannagar’s detective department was launched, with teams scanning CCTV footage and conducting searches in nearby districts.

Police arrested Bapan Majhi of Kalitala, Chandaneshwar; Paran Sardar of Sardarpara, Chandaneshwar; and Sonai Das alias Raja of Khosalpur, Sonarpur. Officers said all three confessed, leading to the recovery of the ornaments. Investigators confirmed four people were involved, calling the burglary opportunistic, not pre-planned. “Within 24 hours, we arrested two suspects based on CCTV and digital inputs. They revealed details of the others and the location of the stolen items,” a senior Bidhannagar officer said. The search is on for the fourth suspect, while legal steps are underway to return the valuables to temple authorities.