Mangalore, July 7, 2013: As many as 12 small idols from an annex of the Jain Guru Basadi, one of 18 Jain temples in Moodbidri, about 35 km from here, were stolen on Saturday morning. The Guru Basadi is located close to the famous 15th century Tribhuvana Tilaka Chudamani Basadi, popularly called Thousand Pillar Basadi.

The idols, made of precious stones, were three to four inches in height, the police said. Thieves reportedly broke open a window of the Siddhantha Darshana Block using gas-cutters. It had 64 idols of religious importance to Jains. The annex was locked around 9 p.m. on Friday after the day’s rituals. The theft came to light on Saturday morning when a priest entered the Basadi for morning pooja and found idols missing.

Moodbidiri police, who have registered a case, recovered the gas cylinder and a bag left behind by the thieves. “They came well prepared,” said Mangalore Police Commissioner Manish Kharbikar, alluding to the fact that the watchman on duty could not hear the sound of thieves breaking the window.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 7, 2013.