Thief meets sudden death while stealing Buddhas  

盗贼入庙行窃偷佛像 拔下佛头后突然倒地身亡(图)

(ECNS) -- A thief in Henan province died a sudden death while trying to steal Buddha statues from an old temple built in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Dahe.cn reported on Friday.

Local police in Hebi city, Henan province, said the case occurred at an ancient temple in Zaolin county, Juqiao town under Hebi city.

Seven suspects took the temple's three Buddha figures on the night of Sept 8.

A suspect surnamed Wang said he and six other people intended to steal the statues and sell them to traffickers.

They broke the bars around the statues with gas cutting equipment, and tried to separate the heads of the figures from the bodies.

Ma, another suspect, pulled Buddha heads from the figures and moved them to their car, after which he returned to the temple to move the bodies.

However, what happened after Ma returned to the temple shocked his accomplices. He suddenly fell unconscious. The other suspects, setting the Buddhas aside, sent Ma to hospital, where he was declared dead by doctors.

Wang said he had planned to sell the Buddha heads, but he gave up the idea after his wife broke her leg while the heads were hidden in their house.

The three Buddha heads were found in Wang's family home, and were returned to the temple by police on Monday.

Local residents told police that some people who tried to steal the Buddha figures were killed in a car accident while transporting the statues away from the temple.

As a grade-three cultural relic, the temple was built during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722).

On Sept 9, when local police went to the temple, they found three Buddha statues without heads, and the seven suspects were detained.