• Source:JND
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A temple priest in Jharkhand’s Palamu district has been fighting a court battle to prove his claim over the idols that were stolen 37 years ago from a temple in Bishrampur village of the district. The idols of the historical Panchmukhi temple in the village since then have been kept in the warehouse of the police station while the priest is fighting to get them released. 

The priest of the Panchmukhi temple, Pandit Achyutanand Pandey, said that he is trying his best for the past few years to prove that those three idols belong to the temple and has presented evidence for it in the court. However, due to the lack of records, he has not been able to free the idols.   

Muni Bhuiyan, who was accused of stealing the idols at the behest of a big businessman from Palamu district, along with two of his associates has died. Locals believe that he and his two companions died several days after the idol theft. His relatives considered his untimely death to be a curse from God and out of fear they handed over the three stolen idols to the police.

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The priest’s son, Rajan Pandey, met the then DIG of Palamu, Vipul Shukla, and the then SP of Palamu, Indrajit Mahatha and demanded the liberation of the idols. Several meetings were also held in the police station. 

A member of the royal family and former vice-president of Bishrampur Panchayat, Ajay Buxrai alias Badhku Singh, has also made efforts. However, there is no record related to the theft of the idols or anything related to it in the police station. This has been a major obstacle in getting proper information and resolving the case.

The three idols are made of rare and precious Ashtadhatu and have been stolen twice from the temple. The first theft occurred on November 27, 1986, when the idol of Kuber Dev was taken from the sanctum sanctorum. 

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The second theft happened on September 30, 1989, when the idols of Jai and Vijay, the two gatekeepers of Ram Darbar, were stolen from near the main door of the sanctum sanctorum. The thieves were caught after several days and the idols were recovered. However, they were not returned to the temple but kept in the police station.

The people of Bishrampur want the idols to be installed with devotion in the Panchmukhi temple again. They say that the idols have been imprisoned in the police station and need a leader to come forward to free them.