No arrest yet in temple robbery

SHARLENE RAMPERSAD

FREEPORT police are still searching for four men who broke into the Lakshmi Narayan Temple on Sunday morning and robbed its pundit and his family.

A senior police officer told the Newsday that closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from buildings close to the temple is being used in the investigation.

The masked men entered the home of pundit Gajendra Kumar and his wife Mamta around 2am on Sunday.

They tied up the couple and stole some $160,000 in cash, jewellery and other valuables.

One of the couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old twins woke up during the robbery but was told by the bandit to go back to bed. Kumar told the Newsday on Sunday that the child obeyed.

The incident shocked the Freeport community, and devotees who turned up for Sunday morning worship performed their devotion under the watchful eyes of Freeport police.

There has been strong condemnation of the attack on social media, as many view the actions of the bandits as desecration.