9 years after theft, Odisha thief returns deity’s ornaments worth lakhs; pays a penalty too

A local thief, who had stolen Lord Krishna’s ornaments from the Gopinath Temple in Odisha’s Gopinathpur, has surprisingly returned all the jewellery after nine years with a note, in which he claimed he has been suffering from guilt pangs. In the note, he mentions that he has been getting nightmares ever since the theft. Interestingly, the thief also paid a penalty of Rs 300. According to a report in News18 Odia, the thief left a bag of stolen items at the front door of the temple in the middle of the night. The bag contained a stolen cap, earrings, bracelet and a flute that belonged to the presiding deities Krishna and Radha. The value of these ornaments are believed to be in lakhs. In the apology note addressed to the priest, Devesh Chandra Mohanty, the thief also left an additional Rs 300 as an atonement along with the jewellery. A report in India Today, stated that the man had recently read the Bhagavad Gita and started regretting the theft committed nearly nine years ago. In 2014, a massive theft took place at the temple, in which the deities’ silver flute, umbrella, crown, silver eyes, plate and watch were stolen. At that time, the villagers had filed a complaint at the Lingaraj police station. When the stolen items were not found after days of search, the villagers had given up all hope of the temple ornaments ever being recovered. However, after the return of the ornaments, there were celebrations in the village, local media reports stated. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.