Police advise trusts of temples to install CCTV cameras and scanners
Police advise trusts of temples to install CCTV cameras and scanners
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Alarmedu00a0by thefts reported at four Jain temples last month, the Samasta Shri Jain Shwetambar Murtipujak Mahasangh has asked the police to take stringent measures to crack down on the crime.
The crime branch has issued a circular to all temples asking them to install security gadgets and appoint security guards.
Security solution
The police assured a delegation of the mahasangh that the culprits will be nabbed soon. The police also asked them to install CCTV cameras and scanners in all the 43 Jain temples across the city. Hand-held or door-frame metal detectors for strict access control and I-cards for all have also been suggested by the police.
"To install CCTV cameras and scanners at all 43 temples is beyond the means of many trusts that run smaller temples, as a minimum of Rs 2 lakh expenditure is expected," said Prafulla Kothari, one of the committee members of the mahasangh. "Apart from the Bibwevadi temple theft where idols worth Rs 11 lakh were stolen in the wee hours on March 11, there were three more thefts at Goduji temple in Guruvar Peth, Manmohan Parshwanath temple in Timber Market and Shatrunjay temple in Kondhwa that exposed the lack of security."
He also said that Police Commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh had assured them that separate teams had been formed to arrest the culprits.
Seeking help
Expressing his concern over not a single person being arrested for the thefts, Achal Jain, president of the mahasangh, said, "If it continues, we will have no option but to meet Home Minister R R Patil and request him to take up the matter."