Burglars decamped with ‘ashtadhatu’ idols of Lord Ram, Sita, Laxman and Bajrang Bali from an ancient temple in a village near here, police said on Tuesday.

The incident came to light when priest Rajendra Sharma opened the main door of the temple in Mauri village under Piyarpur police station in Paliganj subdivision this morning.

He found the idols missing. “When we opened the main door of the temple, we found the statues of Lord Ram, Sita, Laxman and Bajrang Bali missing. A silver ‘mukut’ has been as well. We have informed the villagers besides a written complaint to police against unidentified persons,” Sharma said.

“Four idols of gods and goddesses made of ashtadhatu (octo-alloy) were stolen from the temple of Mauri village late on Monday night. Fingerprint experts and a dog squad have been called. An investigation is underway,” said Sanjay Kumar, SHO of Piyarpur police station.

The area is known as Naxal infested but no incident of theft has happened here till date.

The temple was established in 1960 and the idols were also established at the same time, sources said.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)