Donation box stolen from ancient Hanuman temple in Hata; masked thief caught on CCTV

A donation box was stolen from an ancient Hanuman temple on the bank of a pond in Navodaya Ward, Kakrai, under Hata police station limits in Damoh district on Wednesday night. An unidentified thief broke the temple's lock and took the box away.

When devotees and the priest reached the temple on Thursday morning, they found the lock broken. The theft came to light then, and Hata police were informed.

Ramkumar Sahu said he opens the temple lock every morning. When he arrived on Thursday morning, the lock was broken and the donation box was missing. The box was opened only once a year, so no one knows how much money it held.

A CCTV camera near the temple captured a masked thief, who had tied a cloth over his face. In the footage, he is seen breaking the lock of the temple's channel gate, going in and running off with the donation box.

Local residents also watched the CCTV footage. The empty donation box and some coins were found in a nearby field. The box is feared to have held around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.

On receiving information, a Dial 112 team reached the spot and left after examining it. Hata station in-charge Sudhir Begi also reached the spot with a police team and began an investigation.