KRISHNAGIRI: Unidentified people broke open four of the six hundi boxes at the Sri Madeswaran Temple in Manjamedu in Krishnagiri district in the early hours of a Wednesday and stole more than Rs 1 lakh in cash, police said.According to an officer at the Bargur police station, temple priest Thangamani locked the premises after completing puja on Tuesday night. “On Wednesday morning, temple employee Chinnasamy arrived to decorate the deity and was found four hundi boxes broken open,” the officer said.On being alerted, police rushed to the spot and conducted inquiries. Fingerprint experts collected evidence.The temple, situated on the banks of the Thenpennai river, is under the control of the Hindu religious and charitable endowments department. It attracts several of devotees. During the recent Aadi Perukku and Amavasya rituals, many devotees had visited the temple, offered prayers and deposited notes and coins in six hundi boxes on the premises. Temple authorities said the hundis had not been opened for more than three months. They told police that the four hundi boxes together had contained more than Rs 1 lakh in cash.The Barur police registered a case and launched a search for the culprits.
