Thanjavur: Taking a cue from the Aamir Khan starrer PK, where an alien new to the ways of the world, inserts a wire to take out money from a temple collection box, a man in Thanjavur replicated the act and got caught in the process.
According to police, on Saturday, officials of Uppiliyappankoil in Tirunageswaram found a man loitering around the temple hundial. Mahesh, a priest of the temple, noticed the man taking out currency notes and coins at will from the hundial mouth. With the help of other staff and devotees, Mahesh caught hold of the man and informed the Tiruneelakudi police about his activities.
The police team interrogated the man, later identified as K Rajaraman (44) of Valayapettai in Darasuram near Kumbakonam. Rajaraman confessed to the police that he used to stick chewed gum inside the hundial near its mouth in which offerings by the devotees like currency notes and coins would stick to it and after sometime he would remove the gum and take away the money.
He had done this several times in the past and never got caught. The police on Saturday recovered `300 from him.
Based on a complaint filed by C Mariyappan, the Assistant commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE), the Tiruneelakudi police registered a case under section 380 (theft) of Indian Penal code and arrested Rajaraman.
