Udupi: The Diwali night of Tuesday, October25 became a real dark night for devotees of Yermal Lakshmi Janardhana ancient temple, when robbers unknown removed the silver crown of the main deity. Priests opening the doors this morning(October 26) for worship found to their surprise that the lock had been broken and silver ornaments on deity worth over a lakh of rupees were missing. It was and act of some intruders, who knew the place.

The theft is guessed to have taken place past midnight and before dawn hours, as on Tuesday regular pujas and rituals went late into the night.

While the yermal temple located in Udupi taluk on the national highway 6, was about 400 years old, devotees came from all over the district.

Robbers could lay hands only on silverware, as golden valuables were in a locker not accessible to them.

Padubidri police have registered a case, and are busy investigating with sniffer dogs and finger print techniques to catch the thieves.