Chandigarh, Oct. 27: Idols believed to be worth over Rs 100 crore were stolen yesterday from the Jain temple at Hansi, near Hisar, in Haryana.

“There was a lot of silver and cash inside the temple that was not touched. The thieves entered the temple from the roof and broke 13 locks. Before leaving, they locked the main door from inside,” a police officer said.

The theft came to light when an employee unfastened the lock but could not open the temple door.

Government museum authorities here described the idols ? 37 were on display in glass cases ? as “priceless”. “Some of the idols are of ashtadhatu and belong to the 8th century. Their value is more than what is being stated?. They possibly cost hundreds of crores of rupees,” a museum official said. “They are fit to be in the homes of kings and not antique collectors.”

Police sources said the theft was the handiwork of an international gang that knew the worth of the idols. “They cannot be sold easily. We have alerted airports and seaports. A close watch is also being kept on exit points in the state,” an officer said.

Police teams have fanned out to Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. “They can make use of the chaos in Kashmir after the earthquake to send them across to Pakistan,” a police officer said.

The idols were accidentally discovered in an earthen pot in 1982 by some children playing in a fort built by Prithviraj Chauhan near Hansi. The Haryana government gave in to persistent demands and handed over the idols to the Jain community in 1991.

The idols were guarded by a police team till 1995, when the government security was withdrawn.

Legal adviser to the temple management Kulbhushan Jain said community members had repeatedly sought police security at the temple. “We still do not know why guards were not provided.”

The government is expected to hand the investigations to the CBI if the police fail to trace the idols in a couple of days.

The police have sealed the temple and have appealed to the people to remain calm.

The Jain community, which is blaming the police for the theft, today took out a silent procession in protest.