Karwar: The famous Mahabaleshwara Temple in the pilgrim town of Gokarna was burgled on Friday night. Reports say the burglars have decamped with cash of about Rs one lakh from the donation boxes in the temple,

Interestingly, the theft took place even as security guards of the temple were on duty. Reports say the thieves gained entry into the temple by dislodging the roof tiles and then the grills.

The two donation boxes have been found broken. However the sanctum sanctorum remained untouched. In the meantime, the CCTV cameras had remained switched off that night, say temple authorities giving room for doubts as to why the CCTV cameras meant for the protection of the temple were switched off.

Gokarna Police are conducting the investigations.