BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, July 7, 2002: As a boy, he helped his father loot goods trains. When he grew up, he started looting gods! Prakash Patnaik, 24, who hit headlines as the brain behind the thefts in Lingaraj and Puri Jagannath temples of Orissa, has had police groping in the dark for years. Hailing from Kantapara village of Odgaon block in Nayagarh district, with his early childhood in Bhilai, Prakash reportedly joined his father, an electrician who, after losing his job, took to crime. The first temple theft Prakash committed was stealing of 57 kg of silver ornaments from the Mahamayya Temple in Bilaspur on January 6, 1998. The state police have claimed that they were able to unveil the mystery behind the theft cases in four temples in the state including Jagannath Temple at Puri and Lingaraj temple which occurred recently. Prakash has since been arrested, and reportedly confessed his guilt before the police.
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