Thieves targeted a number of devotees amid the large crowds at the ongoing Panguni temple festival and deity procession at the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore. Police estimate close to a dozen women devotees lost jewellery and other valuables on Thursday evening alone.
The famous temple fest, an annual affair, began on March 26 and will conclude on Saturday evening. With large crowds gathering for the big event, there was a posse of police keeping vigil, managing people and traffic flow. According to sources with the Mylapore police, the festivities on Thursday evening turned out to be a hunting ground for chain snatchers with nine people reporting the loss of their jewellery. The crowds were large and uncontrollable in the procession and culprits posed as devotees and managed to evade the cops.
Nine women devotees, who attended the procession, later approached the police and reported the loss of gold ornaments of a total of nearly 55 sovereigns. A few more women are suspected to have lost valuables. A a Mylapore resident, offering prayers to the deity as part of the procession, misplaced his bag reportedly containing Rs. 1.5 lakhs.
The victim identified as Mohan has lodged a complaint with the Mylapore police after unidentified persons fled with bag, sources added.
Close to a dozen women devotees lost their jewellery and other valuables as hundreds of devotees thronged the area