Ayodhya's dark reality: 4,000 lights worth Rs 50 lakh stolen from paths leading to Ram Mandir

Ayodhya was refurbished under a major project ahead of the January 22 Ram temple consecration ceremony in the holy city.

In a bizarre turn of events, around 3,800 bamboo and 36 projector lights worth over Rs 50 lakh installed on Bhakti Path and Ram Path, located in a high-security area in Ayodhya, were allegedly stolen, according to police.

An FIR was lodged at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station following a complaint on August 9 from a representative of the firm — Yash Enterprises and Krishna Automobiles –which set up the lights under a contract awarded by the Ayodhya Development Authority, police said on Tuesday.

"As many as 6,400 bamboo lights were installed on Rampath and 96 projector lights were installed on Bhakti Path. Till 19 March, all the lights were there but after an inspection on May 9, it was found that some lights were missing.

"Till now around 3,800 bamboo lights and 36 projector lights have been stolen by some unknown thieves," Shekhar Sharma, a representative of the firm, said in the complaint.

However, Ayodhya commissioner Gaurav Dayal said stealing such large number of lights is "not possible".

"The contractor has informed that fancy bamboo lights have been stolen from the trees. It is not possible that such a large quantity of lights can be stolen since there are police patrolling day and night in Ayodhya. As per the initial information, we did not put such a large number of lights as it has been informed that around 3,600 lights have been stolen. Still, we are going to investigate this..."

According to the FIR, the firm became aware of the theft in May but filed the complaint on August 9.

The police said that an FIR has been registered in the matter and a probe is on.

Ayodhya was refurbished under a major project ahead of the January 22 Ram temple consecration ceremony in the holy city.