London: A burglary of 3,000 pounds collected as donations during Mahashivratri festival has put devotees and officials at a temple in UK in a state of shock.

The incident happened last week at the International Siddashram Shakti Centre in Harrow where the burglar stole the money which had been collected during the festival on March six, after reportedly breaking two collection boxes and a display cabinet.

"This is shocking news, it has never happened before. This is public money which has been stolen, which would have been used for sending clothes to India, looking after animals, and also paying the bills of the temple," Rajeshji Parmar, founder of the temple, said.

"Maybe the person who burgled us knew the money was there. People were coming to the temple all day and all night, donating lots of money, and he must have known it was still inside and hadn t been deposited yet," he told mediamen.

The thief was captured on CCTV camera, damaging a basement door and two windows as he smashed his way into the temple from the adjacent park at 1.44 am (local time).

He was described as a middle-aged man with a beard and balding hair. He was wearing a black jacket, a beige jumper, black shoes, and blue jeans.
Parmar hoped the footage will help police to catch him.

The collection boxes and display cabinet were handcrafted by a local carpenter in 2000 for the temple.

The members of the temple will now need to give money from their own pockets to replace the stolen cash, Parmar added.
Source : PTI