CHENNAI: Devotees no doubt get engrossed in rituals during temple festivals, but they need to be alert to safeguard their valuables. The recent arrest of an Andhra Pradesh based gang of women, who nicked a whopping 76 sovereigns of gold at a temple festival at Red Hills, proves just that.With more temple festivals likely in the coming auspicious months, police advise devotees, especially women, to be cautious and to carry fewer valuables.“Women get so sentimental when they come for a consecration festival. They are anxious to have the water used for abhishekam sprinkled on them, so they focus on getting as close as possible to the temple and forget everything else,” a police official observed.The police on duty said that when devotees get involved in the prayers, with hands raised and eyes closed, they are not even aware of who is standing next to them. Thieves take advantage of the jostling crowd to disappear after stealthily filching gold chains. The Red Hills police, who investigated the snatching case at the Lakshmi Amman Temple, suggested that women should not wear much gold at such functions, and that if they do lose ornaments they should report it immediately to the security set up at the festival. Police sources claimed that in the Red Hills case only three or four worshippers reported the loss of their ornaments immediately to the police. Many turned up later at the police station. “A 65-yr-old woman came later and claimed that she had lost a gold chain of 25 sovereigns. And a man reported that his bracelet had been stolen. We have no way of knowing if the complaints are valid or not,” a police official said.Even if devotees do report the theft immediately, said the police, it is not easy to make inquiries immediately. “There may be VIPs present and worshippers may not cooperate in front of the public. So it is better if people avoid wearing too many ornaments to such congregations,” said a police official.
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