In the early hours of Monday, January 12, thieves stole silver and gold ornaments worth around ₹70 lakh from Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibugga, Srikakulam district. The miscreants also broke the temple hundi and took cash and donated ornaments. Temple trustee Mukund Panda and priests discovered the theft and informed senior police officials right away. Kasibugga Deputy Superintendent of Police Shaik Shahbaz Ahmed and Circle Inspector Ramakrishna visited the site and checked the security setup. They found the temple lacked enough CCTV cameras to monitor visitors' movements properly. Just two months earlier, on November 1, 2025, the temple was under the spotlight when a stampede killed nine people due to poor crowd control. Following that tragedy, the government stopped the temple darshan temporarily and began several development works to improve the experience for devotees. However, the ongoing lack of adequate security made the temple vulnerable, leading to this major theft.