An endless stream of pilgrims, thousands of dhoti-clad pandas, flowers, incense sticks ? Kalighat is about piety. But extortion, pickpocketing and gang rivalry are equally common in this south Calcutta pocket, as Umesh Mundra found out on Saturday evening.

The IAS officer from Bhopal, in the state as poll observer, was robbed of Rs 5,000 in the temple. According to police, about 10 pilgrims have either suffered a similar fate or were forced to cough up an exorbitant sum in the temple over the past three months. Many more such incidents, admit the cops, went unreported.

?Just three days before the Mundra incident, a man was asked to pay Rs 8,000 for puja and mangal arati. He had to call an additional commissioner of police in Lalbazar to escape the clutches of the pandas,? stated an officer of Kalighat police station.

While some thefts occur inside the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum), the majority, temple insiders said, take place in the queue for darshan.

Tuesdays and Saturdays are the worst, since the temple is most crowded.

Those manning the stalls where unsuspecting pilgrims deposit their luggage are often involved in theft, claimed police. Criminals also dress up as pandas to fleece visitors. Many bear allegiance to local gangsters, including Palan Pal.

A resident of Jhalar Math, in Tollygunge, 28-year-old Palan recently shifted base to Kalighat. Now on the run, cops hold his gang members responsible for the three thefts that were reported on Poila Baisakh. Local residents said Pal has stepped into the shoes of Kanu Patra, who is lying low after serving a prison term. Palan?s rival Kallu Khan, alias Bachcha Kallu, was nabbed on Friday from a hideout.

?Kallu had been extorting people. His arrest is a major breakthrough,? remarked N. Ramesh Babu, deputy commissioner (south).

Crime in the temple is unlikely to stop, though. ?The gates open at four in the morning and close at 11.30 at night. People keep pouring in and out. What do we do if a thief enters the temple with the pilgrims?? asked Babloo Halder, vice-president of the Kalighat Temple Committee.

The difficulty arises also because not all members of the two panda bodies are willing to sport identity cards.