Team Herald
CALANGUTE: Burglars decamped with four two-hundred-year-old statues worth around Rs 20 lakh from the Holy Cross Chapel in Naika Vaddo, Calangute.
According to sources, the robbery came to light when chapel committee members opened the chapel on Saturday morning and noticed that the statues on the main altar were missing. The burglars entered the chapel by breaking a window grill and decamped with large statues of St Anthony, St Francis Xavier, Infant Jesus and Mother Mary, all valued at around Rs 20 lakh.
Surprisingly, a big and a small cross as well as silver items were left untouched by the burglars. The cupboards were also left untouched and no attempt was made to open it. The committee members later filed a complaint with Calangute Police.
According to chapel committee president Neville Proenca, the statues were allegedly stolen by a professional gang involved in burglaries. He said, “We suspect the hand of a professional gang as they broke into the Chapel through a window. The robbers targeted only the valuable statues, which are two hundred years old and nothing else. We have registered an FIR with Calangute Police over the incident. We need to be alert and avoid similar incidents in other areas.”
Incidentally, the burglars might have taken advantage of the repairs/renovation works at the Holy Cross Chapel being carried out by the chapel committee. The chapel is right on the edge of the main road of Calangute-Arpora; the front portion is being repaired and renovated through contributions from the locals. The theft of the statues has sent shockwaves throughout Calangute, with committee members of other Chapels taking extra precautionary measures to avoid being the next target.
