CHENNAI: A 34-year-old priest has been arrested for allegedly stealing 50 sovereigns of gold jewellery and 10 kg of silver articles, including ornaments adorning a Goddess Kali idol, from the residence of a Bharatanatyam dancer in Chennai after allegedly gaining the family's trust over four years.
According to a Daily Thanthi report, the accused, identified as Priyadharshan of Villivakkam, had been performing daily poojas at the dancer's residence in Mogappair and was paid a monthly salary of Rs 35,000.
The complainant, Aniruth (45), conducts dance classes and has a small idol of Goddess Kali installed at his residence, where he performs daily worship and distributes prasadam every afternoon.
To carry out the rituals, he had appointed Priyadharshan as the family's priest. Having served the household faithfully for nearly four years, the priest had earned the confidence of the family and was allowed unrestricted access to the house. However, over the past few days, the family noticed that gold ornaments adorning the Goddess Kali idol, along with jewellery kept in a cupboard inside the house, had gone missing. Silver articles used for worship were also found to be missing.
Aniruth subsequently lodged a complaint with the JJ Nagar police, stating that nearly 50 sovereigns of gold jewellery and around 10 kg of silver articles had disappeared from the residence. Based on the complaint, police registered a case and launched an investigation. During the inquiry, police allegedly found that Priyadharshan had been stealing the valuables in small quantities over a period of time without raising suspicion.
Following the investigation, police arrested Priyadharshan and recovered around 30 sovereigns of the stolen gold jewellery from his possession. The accused was later produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody. Police said efforts are under way to recover the remaining stolen jewellery and silver articles. Further investigation is in progress to ascertain whether the valuables had been pledged, sold or handed over to others.