Burglars on Monday night broke into the ancient Dakeshawr temple at Banpur in Khordha district and decamped with as many as 22 antique idols, some of them are made up of ‘Astadhatu’.
Police sources said, the miscreants entered by breaking open the locks of three doors of the 300-year-old temple and fled with the precious idols worth crores of rupees.The ancient shrine has been under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). An ASI official said he locked the temple doors and main gate at around 8 pm before leaving for home. When he came to the temple in the morning, he found the doors of the temple ajar.
He immediately informed his superiors, who in turn called up police. Later, police reached the spot and launched an investigation.