Behrampore, Oct. 22: Gold and silver jewellery valued at Rs 1.2 lakh were stolen last night from the idols at a Durga Puja organised by a branch of the family of the Rajas of Jemo in Murshidabad's Kandi.

This is the first time in the puja's 350-year history that such a theft has taken place.

The heist came to light in the early hours of this morning, when priest Nitai Chatterjee opened the gates of the mandap for Navami preparations.

Following a complaint lodged by family head Krishnendu Roy, police have started a probe.

"After the Ashtami puja was over last night, we went to sleep after midnight. Around 3.40am, the family priest alerted us about the theft. We are in shock. The jewellery of our idol had never been stolen before," Roy said.

Roy said the idols were decorated with jewellery from the family's lockers during Durga Puja every year and taken off before immersion on Vijaya Dashami. "Never before in 350 years had anything like this happened. Most of the stolen jewellery is well over two centuries old," he said.

Several police officers, including the inspector in charge of Kandi police station, Sunayan Bose, visited the mandap for the probe. No arrests were made till late tonight.

"An inquiry has been started and we are hopeful of arresting the culprits soon," said district police chief C. Sudhakar. He said priest Chatterjee alerted the family after noticing that gold and silver ornaments such as necklaces, earrings, nose pins and bangles were missing from the idols of Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi.

According to an officer of Kandi police station, an old door behind the idols was found broken. "The wall has become weak because of lack of maintenance. The thieves broke a part of the wall and took the door off. Then they entered the mandap from behind the idols," the officer said.

He said it appeared prima facie that those responsible were familiar with the building, the area and the timings of the puja traditions observed by the family.