A room at Ramayana Bhumi Buddha Vihara in Bodhgaya looted on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

Gaya, Feb. 16: Various monasteries in Bodhgaya are being increasingly targeted by criminals who are on the prowl, taking advantage of inadequate security.

Representatives of various monasteries and Buddhist devotees have expressed concern over lack of policing in the town after Tuesday’s robbery at Ramayana Bhumi Buddha Vihara, a Myanmarese monastery at Katorwa village.

Bhikkhu Priyapala, the monk in-charge of Chakma Buddhist monastery and a member of International Buddhist Council (IBC), said: “Patrolling is inadequate in and around the monasteries. Such developments are making the shrines vulnerable to the criminals and tarnishing the image of the town that receives lakhs of foreign tourists every year.”

Bodhgaya deputy superintendent of police Imteyaz Ahmad told The Telegraph that raids were on and the cops stumbled upon some clues pertaining to the Ramayana Bhumi Buddha Vihara robbery.

Six criminals had raided Ramayana Bhumi Buddha Vihara and took away $10,000, 2.9 lakh Kyat (Myanmarese currency), Rs two lakh in Indian currency, 8,640 Wat (Thai currency), seven cellphones and two cameras.

This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred in the town. In 2004, criminals attacked a Korean monastery at Dhungeshwari, gunned down an engineer and looted cash and valuables. The engineer was from Korea. Since then, the town has witnessed five robberies.