Police Arrest 40-Year-Old Man for Breaking into Sarchal at Night and Stealing Sarriham

Searching for Crime Target Locations in a Travel Guidebook Introducing Famous Mountains Nationwide

Stolen Sarira Reliquary. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] On the 26th, the Jangheung Police Station in Jeonnam announced that they had arrested and sent to the prosecution a man in his 40s, A (48), on charges of theft under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes for breaking into a temple late at night and stealing a sarira reliquary and other items.

A is accused of breaking into the Daeungjeon Hall of a temple in Daedeok-eup, Jangheung-gun, around 5 a.m. on the 10th, stealing one Myanmar Buddha sarira reliquary and 100,000 won in cash from the donation box.

He is also charged with breaking into a temple in Songji-myeon, Haenam-gun, on the 7th and stealing cosmetics after finding no money in the donation box.

Police investigations revealed that he damaged the backs of three Buddha statues enshrined in the Daeungjeon Hall with tools and stole the sarira reliquaries inside them.

A thought the sarira reliquary decorated in gold was valuable and entrusted it to a goldsmith, but the appraisal showed it was not a precious metal.

He was found to have marked the target locations of his crimes in a travel guidebook introducing famous mountains nationwide, and no additional crimes have been confirmed.

After receiving a report from the temple, the police began an investigation but faced difficulties identifying the suspect’s appearance because there was no closed-circuit television (CCTV) installed inside the temple.

The Buddha statue damaged by A included the Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha, a cultural asset of Jeonnam Province, but unaware of its cultural value, A left it inside the temple.

The police judged that the suspect might have broken into nearby temples as well, and after a wide-ranging investigation of the area, they identified A’s appearance and, with the cooperation of the Daegu Dongbu Police Station, arrested A at a restaurant in Dongdaegu Station.