Manager held for shrine gold theft, accomplice at large
A deserted view of the tomb of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine. PHOTO: REUTERS
The Sindh Auqaf Department has booked one of its managers and a private person in the First Information Report (FIR) for allegedly stealing gold and silver worth Rs25.7 million from the shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (RA).
The case was registered at Sehwan police station, Jamshoro district, on Saturday, a day after Auqaf manager, Muhammad Zubair Baloch, was suspended from his job after serving at the shrine for over 12 years.
A private employee, Ali Raza Gopang, was also named in the FIR along with Baloch under sections 407, 409, 380, 457, 427 and 34 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Read Gold worth Rs12.5m stolen from Lal Qalandar’s shrine
The police are yet to arrest Gopang, who escaped from the town when the theft was unearthed.
The complainant, Irshad Ali Samo, Auqaf administrator for Sukkur and Larkana divisions, told police that over 57 tolas of gold and 3,133 tolas of silver have been stolen from the shrine’s maalkhana [store].
He stated that the shrine received 210.6 tolas of gold in a span of almost 20 years from November 22, 2004, to August 17, 2023.
The Auqaf department deposited 141 tolas in a locker of National Bank of Pakistan’s (NBP) main branch in Hyderabad on July 2, 2013. While 68.15 tolas of gold and 4,836.13 of silver accumulated at the shrine’s storage during the last decade.
Read Gold worth over Rs10m stolen from Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's shrine
“However, when a jeweler was called to weigh gold and silver on December 19, only 11.8 tolas of gold and 1703.4 of silver were found in the store”, he added.
The administrator also informed the police that during the departmental investigation accused, manager Baloch, conceded his negligence and admitted that he gave keys of the store to Gopang without authorisation.
Devotees give gifts in the form of cash and ornaments during their visits to the Lal’s shrine and at other shrines in the province. However, embezzlement of those gifts has for long remained a subject of concern.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2023.