KARACHI: Two suspected thieves were arrested here on Thursday for stealing idols and other articles from a Hindu temple in Lyari on July 26-27 night and selling them to junk dealers, City SSP Asif Ahmed Bughio said.

He added that the junk dealers were also arrested and booked along with the suspected thieves at the Baghdadi police station.

The stolen articles were recovered and all four suspects were sent to jail on judicial remand till August 25.

According to the area police, Farooq alias ‘doctor’ and Shiraz Taj had stolen eight items -- Hanuman’s maces and worship paraphernalia -- from a temple located in the Kamela (slaughter house) locality of Lyari during the night intervening July 26 and 27.

SSP Bughio said the two suspects had been involved in petty crimes in the past. They used to steal different things and sell them to junk dealers to earn money, he added.

An FIR (336/2022) was registered against them under sections 380 (Theft in dwelling house, etc), 457 (Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The area police said that Farooq alias doctor was picked up on spy information and on a lead given by him, his alleged accomplice, Shiraz Taj, was also apprehended. Following an interrogation with them, junk dealers Saifuddin and Zakaria Anwar, who had bought the stolen items, were picked up and these items were seized from them.

The investigators added another section, 411 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property)of the PPC to the FIR against the held junk dealers.

Baghdadi SHO Abdul Ghaffar Shah said that Farooq alias doctor was involved in four/five theft and drugs-related cases registered against him. He said that the eight idols stolen from the temple seemed to be 100-150 years old and had a significant value in the international market. Quoting the temple’s caretakers, the SHO put their estimated value at Rs2.6 million, and pointed out that the suspected thieves had sold them for Rs1,200 to the junk dealers, who were found offering them for Rs12,000-15,000 to potential customers.

Meanwhile, all four suspects were produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate (South) Kamran Ali Kalhoro, who remanded them in judicial custody till August 25, our staff reporter Naeem Sahoutara adds.

The investigating officer submitted in court that since the stolen articles had been recovered, the suspects’ physical remand was not required by the police.

Accordingly, the JM remanded them in judicial custody and directed the IO to produce them on August 25 along with his investigation report.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2022