Nagpur: An unidentified thief allegedly broke into two temples in Nagpur’s Lakadganj area and stole around ₹7,000 in cash from donation boxes, besides damaging CCTV equipment, police said.

According to the complaint filed by Jitendra Hariram Pandey (54), who looks after Shitla Mata and Shiv temples and performs religious rituals, the incident took place between 9 pm on July 27 and 6.30 am on July 28.

The temples are located near Maldhakka Road in the Lakadganj police station jurisdiction. Pandey said he closed the gates of both temples at around 9 pm on July 27 and went home.

When he returned at around 6.30 am the next morning, he found that the locks on the gates of both temples had been broken. On entering the premises, he noticed that the installed CCTV cameras had also been damaged.

The locks of the donation boxes kept inside both temples were broken as well. Upon checking, around ₹7,000 in donation money was found missing.

Police suspect that an unidentified thief broke the locks of both temple gates, entered the premises and stole the cash from the donation boxes.

Based on Pandey’s complaint, Lakadganj Police registered a case under Sections 305(A), 324, 331(4) and 334(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police have launched an investigation and are working to identify the accused.