Sai trust resists blame; govt cars smuggling out cash?

Hyderabad, June 20: With more and more instances of cash being recovered from in and around the Puttaparthi ashram, it looks like Sai Baba's wealth is attracting media attention after the godman's demise on Apr 24.

In two such incidents in a gap of one week, the police has seized Rs 35 lakhs and Rs 5 crore respectively. With the needle of suspicion falling on the Sai Central Trust, which recently initiated the task of opening Sai Baba's private chamber, the Yajur Mandir, the rumours are doing the rounds that the cash was being siphoned off to secret locations with the knowledge of the trust members.

Maintaining a stoic silence till earlier, the Sai trust in a statement on Sunday has stated that the cash haul has nothing to do with the trust. The claim was backed by Sai Baba's nephew and trust member, R.J. Ratnakar who clarified that the money belonged to 12 devotees, the details of which will be shared with the police and other authorities.

With the huge cache of valuables and other precious items emerging from the chamber, the police has decided to keep a close watch on the entry and exit points in and out of Anantpur district. Humongous amount of wealth was found inside Yajur Mandir figuring to Rs.11.56 crore in cash, 98 kg gold and gold jewellery and 307 kg of silver articles.

Meanwhile, speculations are rife about state government vehicles zipping in and out of the ashram with several reports claiming that these vehicles are being used to transport huge sums of money out of the ashram premises. With police turning a blind eye in the checking of such vehicles, this becomes an easy method for those with vested interests to root the money elsewhere.

Sources also revealed that a certain government vehicle with an intention of evading the checking at the Kodikonda checkpost travelled via Bagepalli, Chintamani and Kolar to reach Bangalore.

With the financial situation in Baba's empire garnering media attention, there are many who want to grab a piece of the multi-crore empire. With the latest tun of events, the Andhra Pradesh government has said that they would intervene if irregularities are found to be happening in the trust in the course of discharging their duties.

OneIndia News