Representative image of a temple priest in front of the deity.
Credit: iStock Photo
Udupi: The Gangolli police have arrested a 43-year-old priest accused of stealing gold ornaments of the deity at the Gangolli Kharvikeri Shri Mahankali Temple.
The accused, identified as one Narasimha Bhat (43) hails from Sirsi in Uttara Kannada.
In a complaint, Madi Shankar from Gujjadi village in Kundapur and president of the temple’s managing committee, stated that they had appointed Narasimha as the priest on May 16.
On September 21 at around 7 pm, while performing puja rituals, the priest allegedly took the gold ornaments on the pretext of cleaning them for the upcoming Navaratri festival. When verified, the managing committee discovered that the ornaments were fake.
When questioned, the priest admitted to having taken original gold ornaments for personal use.
It is alleged that between May 16 and September 21, the priest while serving at the temple has misappropriated 264 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 21.12 lakh.
The ornaments were offered by devotees and the temple management to the deity. He had replaced the original ornaments with the fake ones.
A case has been registered at Gangolli Police Station under Sections 314, 316(2), 316(4), 318(2), and 318(4) of BNS.