Head priest of Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple arrested over missing gold ornaments

The head priest of Singapore’s oldest temple -- the Sri Mariamman Temple -- was found guilty of misplacing the deity’s gold ornaments.

During an audit, the temple authorities found that the gold jewellery under the chief priest’s custody had gone missing, a Channel News Asia report said.

Members of the Sri Mariamman Temple said on August 1: “Gold ornaments which are frequently used for prayers are kept under the custody of the Chief Priest in the inner sanctum of the Temple. Regular audits are done to ensure that the gold ornaments are physically accounted for.”

They did not reveal the chief priest’s identity but said that he later returned all the missing ornaments after being grilled by Singapore police. Though the 36-year-old priest was arrested on charges of “criminal breach of trust”, he was later released on bail.

The temple trust has informed that no other persons were involved in the case, but police are still investigating the matter.