Agartala, January 7 (TIWN): Ahead of 5-day annual festival, two precious idols, huge cash, ornaments and a sword were stolen from Puthiba temple of Manipuripara at Abhoynagar area, last night. The stolen items are estimated to be cost of over Rs. 60000, said a member of the mandir committee today.

Expressing sadness over the incident, he further said the 5-day annual festival of Puthiba temple is scheduled to be started on January 11. To mark the festival, a portion of contributed money was also kept in the cash box of the temple. As a result, the mandir committee will face a challenging situation to complete the festival, he said.

Some of the people engaged in morning walk found the lock of the temple was broken and immediately informed to police early in the morning. After receiving the information, police from Abhoynagar Outpost visited the temple. According to the last report, police could not arrest anyone in this connection.

According to a member of the utsav committee, the incident was reported to District Magistrate (DM) and the DM assured them by saying that strict action will be taken to recover the stolen articles and to trace the thief at earliest.