A simple visit to a temple turned unexpectedly expensive for a Bengaluru software engineer after his ₹16,000 pair of shoes disappeared from outside the Shri Ganesha Temple in Banashankari III Stage.
What made the incident more frustrating was the initial hesitation from the police to register a theft case for stolen footwear, said a report by The Times of India. The tech professional, however, insisted on filing an FIR, arguing that such thefts are widespread outside temples and should not be dismissed as trivial.
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The resident of Girinagar told officers that his high-end Asics shoes, purchased just half a year ago, vanished sometime between 7:20 pm and 7:25 pm on November 6. He had arrived at the temple on his motorcycle and left his shoes among the rows of footwear outside, as other devotees typically do.
When he returned after offering a brief prayer, the shoes were gone. Concerned, he approached the temple priest and management, only to learn that this was an ongoing issue, the report said. The priest has lost his slippers twice, he said, adding that many devotees shared similar stories, but no one had bothered to report it.
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Security footage from a camera at the entrance showed a man, barefoot and pretending to be a worshipper, quietly picking up the victim’s shoes before walking away.
Police sources say that in earlier cases, arrested footwear thieves confessed to selling stolen pairs for as little as ₹20 to ₹50, often to fund their alcohol habit. The complainant pointed out that ignoring such minor crimes only encourages offenders to escalate.
According to a senior officer, a case has now been filed under section 303 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (theft). Investigators have taken the CCTV footage into evidence and are working to identify and arrest the culprit, the report stated.
