Balasore: Unidentified miscreants allegedly looted lakhs of rupees from the donation box (hundi) of Panchalingeswar temple in Balasore district.
The temple priests and other staff today noticed the hundi broken after they opened the temple for daily rituals on Wednesday morning. They immediately informed the matter to the temple trust board.
The trust board manager reached the spot and found the hundi cut with cutter and cash and other donation items missing from the box.
He lodged a complaint at Nilagiri police station, based on which police registered a case and launched an investigation.
According to temple trust board, the money has not been withdrawn from the donation box for the last six months.
A similar heist was reported in 2018 from the same temple when cash worth Rs 50,000 was stolen from the hundi.
Panchalingeswar temple is a famous Shiva shrine in northern Odisha, situated on the top of the Nilagiri hills, around 30 kms away from Balasore town.
