The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The two suspects who were arrested and detained for vandalizing two chortens at Athang gewog in Wangduephodrang on the night of January 1 were slapped with a prison term of 15 years each by the Wangduephodrang Dzongkhag Court on June 20.
The convicts are a 27-year-old man from Dangchu gewog in Wangduephodrang and a 56-year-old man from Lhuentse. Both the convicts are married.
The nangtens (relics) of the Namgay Khangzang chorten, one of the two vandalized chortens, like dzee (cat’s eye), a set of tings (water offering bowl) pair of komas (brooches), a kongbu (cup for offering butter lamp) have been recovered.
The two convicts, in their attempt to leave the village to sell off the nangtens, were caught by the joint team of police and the villagers the next day.
The foot prints left behind by the convicts in the crime scene provided the clues required to make the arrest of the two convicts possible.
Further, one three-eyed dzee, three lime containers, and 17 corals were confiscated from the two convicts. The items are believed to be the nangtens robbed from the Namgay Khangzang chorten.
The convicts had first vandalized the Rigsum Goenpai chorten but after finding nothing, they had targeted the Namgay Khangang chorten, which is around two hours away from the first chorten.
The villagers had reported the incident to Athang gup, who had then informed the police.
