Hindu temple vandalised and desecrated as intruders broke the temple lock, ransacked the shrine and stole the Goddess Durga idol
Gaya, Bihar, India 
14 September, 2026
Case Summary
In Madanpur, Gaya city, Bihar, a Hindu temple on Brahmachari Baba Road, within the jurisdiction of Vishnupad Police Station, was vandalised and desecrated after intruders broke the lock of its main entrance, ransacked the shrine and stole the idol of Goddess Durga. The idol's crown and some other items were left behind inside the temple. On the night of 16 September 2026, regular worship was conducted at the temple. After the worship, temple priest Amit Baba closed and locked the premises before returning home. On the morning of 17 September 2026, he arrived to open the temple and found that the lock on the main entrance had been broken. Inside, he found that the Goddess Durga idol was missing from its place and that items around the idol had been scattered. The idol's crown, along with some other articles, remained inside the temple. The Devi temple on Brahmachari Baba Road is approximately 25 to 30 years old. It housed the idol of Goddess Durga as well as idols of other gods and goddesses. Amit Baba said that the Goddess Durga idol had been made in Delhi and brought to the temple. After news of the theft spread, a large number of residents gathered at the temple premises, expressed anger over the incident and demanded prompt police action and the recovery of the stolen idol. After receiving information about the theft, personnel from Vishnupad Police Station reached the temple and inspected the premises. The police questioned Amit Baba and people in the surrounding area and sought information about the circumstances of the incident. Investigators examined how the intruders had entered the temple, which route they had used and at what time the theft had taken place. The police also began examining closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from cameras installed around the area. The footage was to be checked for suspicious movements near the temple during the night of 16 September 2026. Information was also gathered from nearby residents, while investigators examined possible clues to identify those involved and recover the stolen Goddess Durga idol. The investigation remained ongoing, with no suspect, arrest or recovery of the idol reported in the sources.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being added to the Undecided database because the facts currently available provide no evidence of a religious motive behind the immediate crime. While the offence involved the breaking of a Hindu temple’s lock, ransacking of the shrine and theft of the Goddess Durga idol, the available information does not establish that the perpetrators targeted the temple out of hostility towards the Hindu faith or its adherents. A Hindu temple is not merely a physical structure but a sacred space where devotees worship and connect with the divine. The consecrated idols of Hindu deities installed within a temple are regarded as the living embodiment of the deities after the ritual of pran pratishtha and form the spiritual centre of temple worship. Together, the temple and its consecrated idols constitute an inseparable sacred ecosystem. The removal and theft of such an idol, therefore, goes beyond the loss of a valuable religious artefact; it disrupts the sanctity of the temple and desecrates a place of worship by depriving devotees of the sacred deity that is central to religious rituals and daily worship. In that sense, the theft of the Goddess Durga idol resulted in the desecration of the temple's sanctity. However, although Hindu temples are targeted regularly by anti-Hindu perpetrators driven by religious hostility, the facts presently available in this case do not demonstrate that the theft was motivated by religious animosity. Instead, the available evidence indicates that the offence could have been committed with the primary objective of stealing the Goddess Durga idol for financial gain, suggesting a criminal motive rooted in material gain rather than hostility towards the Hindu faith. At present, there is no definitive evidence establishing that this crime was motivated by religious hostility or anti-Hindu bias. Accordingly, this incident is being included in the Undecided database of the Hinduphobia Tracker rather than the hate crime database. If any further evidence emerges demonstrating that the theft was driven by religious animosity or an intent to target the temple because of its Hindu identity, the classification of the case will be reviewed, and it will be moved to the hate crime database.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
