Shivling stolen from Dwaraka temple to 'bring prosperity'; eight relatives held

Police said that one of the relatives of the suspects had a dream about the Shivling of Shree Bhidbhanjan Bhavaneeshavar Mahadev temple, located on the coast of Kalyanpur village in Dwarka. The temple is close to a famous pilgrimage site of Harsiddhi Mataji, where devotees throng in large numbers.

Ahmedabad: The Devbhumi Dwarka district police in Gujarat on Thursday arrested at least eight persons for stealing a Shivling and installing it nearly 500 km away in north Gujarat's Sabarkantha district at their home with the belief that it would bring prosperity.

Police said that one of the relatives of the suspects had a dream about the Shivling of Shree Bhidbhanjan Bhavaneeshavar Mahadev temple, located on the coast of of Harshad village in Dwarka. The temple is close to a famous pilgrimage site of Harsiddhi Mataji, where devotees throng in large numbers.

On Tuesday, the temple priest had filed an FIR against unidentified suspects for stealing the Shivling made of stone. The priest told the police that nothing else was stolen and he found the base of the idol lying at the shore. Following the FIR, district police launched an investigation and also sought help from scuba divers but couldn't trace the idol.

Police have arrested eight persons and recovered the stone Shivling.

District Superintendent of Police, Nitesh Pandey told DH that based on human and technical intelligence, the suspects were traced to Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district. "We have found involvement of 11 persons including three women in the theft. They are all part of an extended family," he said.

"The reason behind the theft was a dream of two members of the family who said that if this Shivling was placed at their house, it would bring prosperity," Pande said, adding that the suspects planned accordingly and did a reconnaissance before decamping with the idol.

Various leads took the police to Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district of north Gujarat, where they apprehended the suspects and recovered the Shivling. Police said that they were taking the idol back to the temple in Devbhumi Dwarka along with the suspects, which is nearly 500 km away in Saurashtra.

The arrested persons have been identified as Mahendra Makwana, Jagatsinh Makwana, Manoj Makwana, Vanrajsinh Makwana, Ramesh Makwana, Haresh Makwana and Ashok Makwana.

In a press note, police said that Ramesh Makwana's wife and niece had dreams which suggested to them that "to bring prosperity, they will have to build a temple of Vahanvati Mata and install shivling of Ardhnarishwar."

The theft of Shivling had sent the district administration into a tizzy as it had happened barely a day before the Maha Shivratri. When asked if the family had ever visited the temple, Pandey confirmed and added that they had visited at least once in the past and were aware about the existence of this temple.