Karachi police on Thursday arrested four men for allegedly stealing idols, maces, and prayer paraphernalia from a Hindu temple located in the city’s Lyari area.

According to City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asif Ahmed Bhugio, the suspects were local criminals who stole valuables from the temple last month and sold them off to junk dealers.

He said that nearly eight idols, Hanuman’s maces and articles for pooja (an act of worship) had been stolen, which were stated to be at least 100 years old.

A first information report (FIR) under sections 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc), 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit an offense punishable with imprisonment), and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code has also been registered.

The SSP further said that the police had initially arrested a suspect identified as Farooq alias Doctor after it received intel from some informers.

Farooq then led the law enforcers to his accomplice Imtiaz Taj.

Meanwhile Baghdadi Station House Officer (SHO) Abdul Ghaffar Shah told Dawn.com that Farooq had been involved in several theft cases and named in multiple FIRs.

He also revealed that the estimated value of stolen items was Rs2.6 million but the suspects sold them at Rs1,200 to the junk dealers who were subsequently selling each item at the price of Rs12,000-Rs15,000.

The police had also apprehended two buyers of the stolen property namely Saifudin and Zakaria Anwar and recovered the items from their custody. A case under section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the PPC has also been lodged against them, while further investigation of the case was underway.