A senior lawyer has approached the Mumbai Police seeking an investigation into an alleged incident involving a Rs 500 donation at Lalbaugcha Raja, after a video showing a man allegedly hiding the currency
note surfaced on social media.
The video, dated September 21, shows actor Madhoo Shah offering prayers at Lalbaugcha Raja. According to the complaint filed by Supreme Court advocate Arvind Rambachan Singh, a person is allegedly seen picking up the Rs 500 note offered by the devotee and hiding it.
Mumbai, Maharashtra: Actress Madhoo Shah visited the Lalbaugcha Raja pandal in Mumbai and offered prayers pic.twitter.com/3M2SxxIiE4
— IANS (@ians_india) September 21, 2026
Singh, in his complaint to the Mumbai Police Commissioner on Thursday, urged authorities to preserve and examine CCTV footage from the area, identify the person seen in the video and determine whether he was an authorised volunteer, employee, security personnel, Mandal representative or an unauthorised individual.
The lawyer has also sought verification of whether the Rs 500 note was subsequently deposited into the official donation system or was retained by the person concerned.
The complaint stressed that it was not making a premature allegation against any individual or organisation and sought an inquiry to establish whether the incident was isolated or pointed to a wider issue with the handling of devotees’ offerings.
Lawyer Appeals For Police Probe
“Prima facie, the individual incident may appear to involve only a small amount of Rs 500. However, the nature and circumstances of the incident warrant proper police verification because of the enormous volume of devotees and donations received at Lalbaugcha Raja during the Ganeshotsav period,” the complaint said.
Senior lawyer Arvind Singh has approached Mumbai Police seeking an investigation into alleged donation theft linked to a viral video from Lalbaugcha Raja. He has also demanded strict action against those responsible. A video of actress Madhoo Shah offering prayers at Lalbaugcha… pic.twitter.com/H2BS1etnWc
— IANS (@ians_india) September 24, 2026
Singh also asked police to examine the broader donation-collection process, including how cash offerings are collected, transferred, counted, recorded and deposited.
The complaint cited public reports claiming that the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal received around Rs 1.90 crore in cash during the first three days of the ongoing 2026 Ganeshotsav, apart from gold and silver donations, taking the reported total value of offerings during that period to around Rs 3.18 crore.
Singh has sought an investigation into whether similar incidents have occurred during the ongoing Ganeshotsav and whether any complaints or CCTV records relating to such incidents are available.
He also requested that the relevant CCTV footage and electronic evidence be preserved immediately, citing the possibility that recordings could be automatically overwritten.
“If the investigation reveals that the said act was intentional and dishonest, appropriate criminal action may kindly be taken against the person responsible under the applicable provisions of law,” the complaint said.
