Bantwal : Thieves who broke into the Goddess Chandika Parameshwari Temple at BC Road in Bantwal in the early hours of June 8, Saturday have decamped with the silver aureole of the Goddess worth nearly Rs 5.5 lakhs. Strangely the thieves had not touched any gold ornament  in the temple.

Even the shrines of Lord Ganapathi and Lord Ayyappa in the outer yards of the temple were not broken open. It is learnt, the thieves entered the temple after breaking open the doors of the sanctum sanctorum.

In fact the stolen silver aureole  was  donated to the temple by an entrepreneur Rakesh Malli during the previous Navaratri celebrations.

It is said the wooden stand to which the aureole was fitted was found discarded in a nearby hill by the thieves.

People are wondering why the thieves only stole the silver jewel. SP Abhishek Goel, DySP Sadananda Varnekar and other police officials have visited the spot.  Investigations are underway.