Mumbai: The Maharashtra government ordered a five-year audit of the Shree Siddhivinayak Temple Trust's accounts following allegations of large-scale theft of devotees' donations at the famous Prabhadevi
temple.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the state Law and Judiciary Department, which oversees the temple trust, to conduct the audit after meeting temple functionaries on Tuesday.
The move comes amid a political storm triggered by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who recently cited a letter written by the temple trustees to Shinde, claiming that temple employees were allegedly involved in siphoning off donation money. Speaking at an event on Saturday, Thackeray alleged that the letter suggested nearly Rs 18 crore worth of donations were being stolen annually and demanded a detailed investigation into the matter.
Responding to the allegations, Siddhivinayak Temple Trust chairman and former Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar said only portions of the trustees' letter had been leaked and quoted out of context. He said the trust had itself approached the government seeking an audit after noticing a sharp rise in donations following action against employees accused of theft.
Details On Temple Donations Over The Years
According to Sarvankar, the temple recorded Rs 182 crore in donations this year, compared with Rs 137 crore last year and Rs 104 crore in 2022-23. He said the trust had been examining the reasons behind the comparatively lower collections in previous years and had requested the government to conduct a detailed audit of the last five years.
The alleged theft first came to light in March, when temple authorities detected cash missing from a donation box. An FIR was later registered, and eight temple employees were arrested in connection with the case. In May, the temple trustees formally wrote to the state Law and Judiciary Department seeking both an audit and a comprehensive investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Sarvankar said the trust has since tightened its security measures to prevent further thefts. Following consultations with senior police officials, including former Anti-Corruption Bureau officer Vishwas Nangre Patil, the trust replaced its security personnel and CCTV monitoring staff. He claimed that some of the newly appointed ex-servicemen were also found stealing money, following which additional safeguards were introduced to curb the pilferage.
Sarvankar, who was appointed chairman of the Siddhivinayak Temple Trust after the Eknath Shinde-led government came to power in Maharashtra, said the trustees would also meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar to brief them on the developments and the steps taken by the trust.
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