Temple thieves reaped a rich haul, robbing 2 different temples, in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the first instance, unidentified persons made off with gold ornaments weighing about 5 tolas with which the idol of Goddess Mahakali was decorated as part of the rituals, on Tuesday.
According to Uppal Inspector R S Raju, the robbers targeted the Mahankali temple in Uppal in the city late in the night, after the priest locked the door of the temple and left for home.
The theft came to light early on Wednesday morning, when he discovered that the locks were broken and the ornaments missing.
In the second such robbery, which took place at Nallapadu in Guntur district, unidentified persons broke into a temple late at night, and decamped with with 6 grams of gold and more than 5 kilo grams of silver. Their estimated value is said to be around Rs. 1.7 lakh.
The temple was locked by the priest the night before, after the regular rituals, and the theft was discovered when the priest returned early in the day. The locks had been broken, and the ornaments which adorned the idol were missing.
The priests of both the temples alerted the police, who took up further investigations.
Cases have been registered under Sections 380 and 457 IPC.
The Nallapadu police suspect 5 persons, who were seemingly in 'Ayyappa Mala' and slept at the temple premises. They were missing when the theft came to light. The police further said that the watchman of the temple had gone to sleep inside his room due to the biting cold prevalent in the area.