Two mobile phones stolen as guards slept at Warora Ganesh pandal
Two phones worth Rs 18,000 were stolen while seven volunteers guarding a Ganesh idol slept at a pandal in Warora, police have registered a case
Two mobile phones were stolen from a Ganesh pandal in Warora town of Chandrapur district during Ganeshotsav, police said. The theft took place at the King Company Ganesh Mandal pandal in the Karmaveer Ward area, where mandal members sleep at the pandal every night to guard the idol.
On the night of September 20, 2026, around 11 pm, seven members including Mainak Vilas Nikare and Ganesh Sudhakar Soyam had gone to sleep at the pandal as usual. The next morning, September 21, when Mainak woke up around 7.30 am, he found that his Vivo mobile phone, kept in his trouser pocket and worth around Rs 8,000, was missing.
Soon after, it was found that a Poco mobile phone belonging to his friend Ganesh Soyam, who was sleeping beside him, had also been stolen by an unidentified thief. That phone is worth Rs 10,000. The two phones together are worth Rs 18,000, as recorded in the complaint.
As soon as the theft came to light, the young men lost no time in going to Warora police station to lodge a complaint. During this, an important piece of information emerged. Sushma Kamlakar Milmile, who lives near the complainant's house, said she had seen an unidentified person walking out of the Ganesh mandal around 5 am on September 21.
Based on this, it is suspected that the same unidentified person could be involved in the mobile theft. Mainak Nikare has demanded strict legal action against the unknown thief. Based on the verbal complaint, Warora police station has registered a case under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.
The case is being investigated further by police head constable Amol Navghare. With such thefts being reported from pandals and temples during this Ganeshotsav season, questions are being raised about security. Local residents have demanded that police trace the thief at the earliest.
