New Delhi: Thieves know no religious boundaries. Call it bizarre or just ‘lust for lucre’, the burglars have begun to act across religious considerations stunning the state administration.

Days after they laid their hands on the idols of Lord Mahavira and Hindu deities, the thieves have walked away with a 1,400-year-old footprint of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), founder of Islam, from a historic mosque located on the banks of the Ganges in Patna, reports The Statesman and Asian News Network.

The theft came to fore yesterday evening when the casket in which the footprint engraved on a precious stone, was opened for public display at the Peerdamaria mosque during ‘Urs’, an annual religious ritual of Muslims.

The followers were shocked and disappointed to see the casket empty, triggering wide outrage. However, the police brought the situation under control.

According to mosque officials, the rare footprint was preserved in this mosque for the past 400 years since it came into existence during the Moghul period.’ We have taken it as a challenge and formed a special team to investigation the case. We hope to recover the missing footprint soon,’ Patna’s senior superintendent of police, Manu Maharaj said.

The incident comes barely a week after 14 precious idols of Hindu deities were stolen from an ancient Ram Janaki Math (religious seminary) in Vaishali district, some 40km north of Patna.

Police say the smugglers get attracted to these idols as they fetch huge amount in the international market.

Source: The Statesman/ANN