Devotees staged a protest outside the DSP’s office in Dera Bassi on Thursday over the theft of idols and religious articles from the Shri Radha Krishna Temple Gaushala in Mubarikpur. Temple manager Kewal Garg began a hunger strike after a 24-hour ultimatum to police expired.

Garg said he stopped consuming food and water on Wednesday and would continue the hunger strike until the stolen idols were recovered.

The demonstrators demanded the recovery of the stolen religious articles and action to trace the suspects.

The theft took place during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, when two unidentified men allegedly broke into the temple on Pandwala Road and took silver and brass idols, religious articles and the donation box.

Temple priest Balram Sharma, 43, discovered the theft around 4.30am on Wednesday when he arrived to open the premises for morning prayers. He told police that he had locked the temple around 8.30pm on Tuesday and checked the locks again at 9.30pm before leaving.

According to the police complaint, CCTV footage showed two men entering the premises between midnight and 1.30am. The stolen items include two silver crowns of Lord Krishna Gopal (Lord Krishna’s childhood form), two silver cow idols, two Gopal Ji swaroops, a silver flute, silver worship utensils, a silver aarti lamp, two temple bells, a copper kalash, brass idols of Lord Ganesha, Kuber and Garuda, a brass Ram Darbar set and the donation box, among other articles.

Dera Bassi police registered an FIR against two unidentified persons under Sections 298, 299, 331(4) and 305(d) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police have launched an investigation to identify the suspects and recover the stolen items.