Nightmare on temple street: thieves return stolen Indian idols
Indian commuters walk through a studio where clay idols of Goddess Durga are ready for the upcoming Durga Puja festival at Kumartuly in Kolkata, India, on Sept. 28, 2016. Durga Puja is one of the largest Hindu festivals that involves worship of Goddess Durga who symbolizes power and the triumph of good over evil in Hindu mythology. (Xinhua/Tumpa Mondal)
A gang of thieves have returned more than a dozen idols they stole from an ancient Hindu temple in India, saying they had been haunted by nightmares ever since the crime, according to police.
The group last week stole 16 statues from a 300-year-old temple of Lord Balaji — an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu — police inspector Rajiv Singh told AFP.
On Monday night they left 14 of them near the house of the temple's chief priest in Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
"They also left behind a confession letter which said they were returning the idols because they were having scary dreams," Singh said.
The note begged for forgiveness. The thieves have not yet been identified.
In their Hindi-language confession letter, they said: "We have not been able to sleep, eat and live peacefully.
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