On November 10, 1978, the State of Andhra Pradesh (then undivided A.P.) woke up to a rude shock.
Burglars had gained entry into the 1,000-year-old Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple in Simhachalam and had fled with 8.60 kg of gold ornaments and 11.14 kg of silverware.
Subsequent investigation by a task force revealed that a gang of robbers from Stuartpuram, led by Chota Prasad and Gajjela Mallesh, had broken into the temple in the wee hours and decamped with the loot after tying up a solitary watchman on duty, who was the only form of security at the famed temple.
Vague leads
Investigating officers picked up a thin lead after analysing the modus operandi and were able to zero in on the culprits within a few days. However, they were able to recover only about 3.7 kg of gold ornaments and about 9 kg of the silverware stolen from the temple.
"Back then, the value of the stolen jewellery was high as per the prevailing market rates," said retired Additional SP Ramakrishna Rao.
"The stolen jewellery was all the more valuable as most of it was hundreds of years old, believed to be from the Gajapathi, Krishnadevaraya and Kulottunga Chola periods. Even the jewellery that we were able to get back was not in the shape that it was before," Mr. Ramakrishna said.
Old police files indicated that valuable and antiquated ornaments such as ‘Patchala Patakam’ (emerald chain), ‘molathaadu’ (waist chain) and ‘Gandham Golusu’ (sandalwood necklace), were not in their original shape anymore. The files also indicated that the burglars tried to steal the golden casing of the Gopuram, but were unsuccessful.
Eye-opener
The burglary served as an eye-opener to the police force. "It hit us hard. People’s sentiments were hurt. The district and temple administration were jolted into reality and that was when we began to take temple security more seriously," said a senior police officer. "The Gopuram area was later fenced with electric wiring and most of the gold ornaments were transferred and kept in the custody of the Treasury Department, only to be brought to the temple during festivals and under tight security," said an officer from the Simhachalam Devasthanam.
Lessons learnt
The Simhachalam temple now has adequate security. The sanctum sanctorum is under the protection of the Special Protection Force (SPF), while the outer area is protected by private security guards. Local police are deployed during major festivals.
The SPF works round the clock, guarding the inner core of the temple with teams of five members on each shift. The Devasthanam has hired 40 security guards to man the outer area of the temple and has installed 35 CCTV cameras covering the entire premises of the temple.
Deputy Commissioner (Endowments) N. Murthy said that the Department, with the help of local police, is focussed on ensuring proper security for temples.
"There are around 800 temples which come under the Endowments Department in Visakhapatnam district. Of these, about 200 to 225 temples are financially well off. The well-off temples have lockers in which valuables, gold ornaments are kept. We have CCTV cameras and adequate manpower in place," Mr. Murthy said.
