Man held for stealing from hundi in Arunachaleswara temple

A 41-year-old man was arrested for stealing ₹5,000 cash from a hundi in Arunachaleswara temple in Tiruvannamalai town on Sunday. Police said the arrested person was identified as P. Sabarinathan, a native of Tiruvarur.

Initial inquiry revealed that Sabarinathan has been on pilgrimage to various temples in the State for the past few weeks. He came to Tiruvannamalai town to visit the temple a few days ago. As the temple was witnessing a huge crowd, he noticed that the hundis in the temple premises were getting filled up quickly. He also saw that the temple authorities and police are busy regulating crowds in the temple.

Police said that he saw one of the hundis in the temple where donations, especially cash by devotees, were overflowing and spilt. He pretended to donate money in the hundi and robbed around ₹5,000 cash from it.

Immediately, other devotees noticed the theft. They alerted temple authorities and police, who rushed to the spot. The stolen cash was recovered from him, and Tiruvannamalai town police registered a case. He was arrested and lodged at the sub-jail in the town. A probe is underway.