Ancient Ganesh idol made of granite stolen in Masturi, priest found tied up

A precious idol has been stolen from the famous 100-year-old Bhanwar Ganesh Temple situated on the banks of Arpa river in Masturi village in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur on Thursday night.

Bilaspur: In a major incident, a precious Ganesh idol made of granite has been stolen from the famous 100-year-old Bhanwar Ganesh Temple situated on the banks of the Arpa river in Masturi village in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, when the villagers went inside the temple to worship, they were shocked to see the priest tied around with tape, and since there was no idol in the temple, the villagers informed Masturi police about the incident. The police reached the spot as soon as they received the information and conducted a search operation to nab the accused.

The idol is three feet high and weighs 65 kg, sources said. Also, the value of the idol is said to be worth crores. At the same time, the incident of theft has caused huge resentment among the local people and villagers. People in the whole area have deep faith in the temple. Hundreds of people, including the priest of the temple, have appealed to the police to arrest the thieves as soon as possible and recover the idol and give strict punishment to the culprits.