T'PURAM: They call it God’s Own Country. Only, the gods in Kerala aren’t safe anymore.

Giving
the temple authorities and the powers that be sleepless nights are the
innumerable temple thefts — some proving to be tough nuts to crack.

Last
year, on an average, there had been at least one temple theft each day
in the state. The value of the booty would run into several lakhs!
According to the data available with the State Crime Records Bureau
(SCRB), 364 temple thefts were reported in 2007 (it was 291 the
previous year). Only 88 cases in 2007 and 111 cases in 2006 have been
detected so far. The rate of detection is as low as 24 percent and 38
percent respectively during the two years.

Among the districts,
the state capital leads the tally with 65 cases in 2006 and 47 the
following year. While 31 cases were detected in the district in 2006,
only 19 cases reported in 2007 could be detected till date.

Kozhikode
comes second in the list with 42 thefts (2007) followed by Kollam (35)
and Ernakulam (31). In 2006, 38 cases were reported in Kollam, 35 in
Malappuram and 31 in Ernakulam.

The absence of proper security
measures in temples is cited as the major reason for thefts. "Most of
the temples neither have security personnel nor security features like
lockers or burglar alarms. The hundis of most of the temples are
installed in such a way that it is easier to take money out of them
rather than put something in them," said a senior police officer.

"The
police have stepped up vigil near temples in view of a number of
thefts. The local sub-inspectors were directed to regularly monitor the
security of major temples," he said.

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