Arunachal monastery pardons West Bengal tourist caught stealing religious items

The authorities of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang Monastery have pardoned a tourist from West Bengal who was caught with stolen religious items on Thursday (March 5, 2026).

The district’s Superintendent of Police, Kato Tasso, said the CCTV footage of the theft was circulated hours after the items were stolen in the afternoon of March 3. The stolen items were a brass Buddha statue from the monastery compound, a pair of Tingsha cymbals, a bell and two metal butter lamps from the Giant Buddha Statue Park nearby.

“This happened a day after the man and his wife reached Tawang on a vacation,” he said, adding that a Buddhist monk administering the park shared the CCTV footage with the police.

“We caught the tourist at the homestay the next afternoon (March 4) and recovered the stolen items after a search,” Mr. Tasso said.

The items are estimated to be worth ₹20,000. The police said no case was registered against the tourist, as the monastery management pardoned him after he expressed regret for the act.

“He admitted his mistake in a written undertaking and promised not to repeat such behaviour anywhere. He also assured us that he would henceforth respect religious sentiments at sacred places,” a police officer said.

The Tawang Monastery, situated at an altitude of about 10,000 feet above the mean sea level, draws a lot of tourists every year. Founded in the 17^th century, it is India’s largest and the world’s second-largest monastery.