The government will construct boundary walls around temples and mutts (religious seminary) to prevent idol thefts and encroachment of land around the shrines.

In the past few years, the state has registered several idol thefts from temples. One of the most high-profile cases was the theft of a 2,600-year-old Lord Mahavir idol from a shrine at Lachchuar in Jamui district last November. Police later recovered the priceless 250kg idol of the 24th Jain Tirthankar from Sikandra in the east Bihar district. In January again, thieves stole 14 big and small precious idols of Hindu deities from an ancient mutt at Imadpur village in Vaishali district.

The government has decided to erect boundary walls around religious structures with precious metal idols. Chief minister Nitish Kumar made the announcement at Rajgir, 110km southeast of Patna, on Saturday while attending the All India Teerth Purohit Mahasabha. Nitish said: "Religious structures, temples and mutts will be surrounded by boundary walls so that the structures are protected from thieves and encroachers."

District magistrates (DM) will have to compile a list of such temples that have to be fenced. The DMs will also collect information on how old the structures are and the landed property the religious structures possess.

The religious structures should be registered with the Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts and not have any history of dispute. Sources said there are around 2,000 shrines to be protected.

Sources said fencing the religious structures would pave the way to protect old religious sites. There are many shrines with crores worth of landed property but as these structures are not fenced, the fear of encroachment and theft looms large. Many of these temples have ashtadhatu - an alloy of gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, iron and mercury - idols which are valued in crores in the international antique market, putting the shrines on the target of international gang of smugglers.

Fencing temples is a pending demand of various Hindu organisations. The BJP has also raised the matter. Retired IPS officer Acharya Kishore Kunal, former chairman of the Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts, said: "Religious structures more than 60 years old in the hands of private organisations or trusts will be barricaded."

The state BJP isn't, however, convinced. Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said: "The chief minister's announcement is a gimmick to please the majority community as he wants to become a mass leader."

Nand Kishore added that before talking of constructing boundary walls around religious structures, Nitish should answer about his promise to construct crematoriums. "During the NDA's first term, he announced the decision to construct crematoriums for Hindus and fence graveyards," he said. "While the graveyards have been fenced, the crematorium project is still in cold storage."