Indian-origin man charged with stealing money from temple donation boxes in Canada

Ottawa: A 41-year-old Indian-origin man has been charged with breaking into temples and stealing money from donation boxes in Canada's Peel region.

Jagdish Pandher of Brampton has been charged with five counts of breaking into and entering the places of worship. Peel police investigated the incidents in cooperation with other police departments in the Greater Toronto Area and have arrested the suspect.

Peel Regional Police said between March and August last year, officers investigated three break-ins at temples where surveillance cameras captured images of a thief taking money from donation boxes.

Two other incidents allegedly involved the same man breaking into two businesses and stealing an undisclosed amount of money.

Investigators add that while some of these offences happened at places of worship, they are 'confident that these were crimes of opportunity to steal cash and not motivated by hate'.