Beleagavi: Reportedly miscreants looking for treasure removing Shiva’s idol from an 800-year temple and digging Sanctum Sanctorum almost 8 feet in Nippani Taluk from the Bellagnav District last week.
Police sources said this was the fifth effort to look for treasure which was believed to be hidden by the erstama kingdom.
The police have launched the probe into the incident after registering fir and looking for criminals.
According to the police, the alleged treasure hunter entered the Sanctum Sanctorum from the Ramalingeshwara temple in Honidibba Village in Nippani Taluk on the night of December 26.
The temple, which was built by the Kadamba Dynasty, was then maintained by Kingdom Kingur.
In front of their search for gold and silver treasures, hunters allegedly do black magic.
Criminals were reported to restore idols before making their escape.
Priest Temple Rudrappa Mattikoppa found something wrong when he arrived at the temple to offer the puja the next morning.
The priest told the villagers, who, in turn, filed a complaint with the Kitture Police Station.
The police said there was no CCTV camera in the temple or around it.
Therefore, they focus on the cellular tower network to narrow their search for criminals.
An officer who worked with an Indian Archaeological Survey in Besavav said the temple was an unprotected monument and his office had submitted a report to the regional office on the incident.