Amid row over donations theft at Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder Raj Thackeray alleged that donations of ₹18 crore were being siphoned off every year at Mumbai's famous Siddhivinayak Temple.
Alleging that ₹1,400 crore had been stolen at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Thackeray remarked that temples are not safe these days and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on this issue.
Frustrated youths visit temples, but even temples are not safe from corruption, he said, news agency PTI reported.
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Thackeray was reportedly reading out a letter written by eight trustees of the temple, saying that some employees who stole money from the donation box at the Siddhivinayak Temple were caught due to the alertness of the trustees. He claimed that the temple's weekly earnings went from less than ₹50 lakh to ₹1.5 crore after the theft was caught.
"Every year, ₹18 crore was being stolen," Thackeray alleged.
{{/usCountry}}"Every year, ₹18 crore was being stolen," Thackeray alleged.
{{/usCountry}}Sada Sarvankar, chairman of the Siddhivinayak Temple Trust and a leader of the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, said that nine employees were arrested in this connection.
"We have filed cases wherever required," he told reporters.
The rise in donations was due to the efforts taken by the trust, Sarvankar said, adding that the temple's income has increased from ₹114 crore two years ago to ₹182 crore.
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Notably, police have arrested multiple accused in the case of alleged theft of donations at the Ram Temple and the investigation is underway.
Thackeray's allegations come amid major row over the Ram Temple donations row which has echoed in the Parliament in the current monsoon session.
Opposition's ‘donation theft’ skit
The Opposition MPs on Friday staged a ‘donation theft’ skit in protest against the government, following which an FIR was registered on Saturday in Varanasi against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and MPs Pappu Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad. BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj and other leaders filed a police complaint in Delhi.
The Varanasi Police registered the case against the three opposition leaders based on a formal complaint submitted at Kotwali police station by seers alleging that these MPs insulted Sanatan Dharma, according to Gaurav Banswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kashi Zone.
Pappu Yadav, dressed in a saffron outfit, performed the skit along with other opposition MPs in front of the Makar Dwar at the Parliament complex on Friday to protest the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
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The MPs, including Gandhi, put money inside donation boxes, while Rajesh Ranjan, known as Pappu Yadav, slipped money into his pockets to symbolise the alleged theft at the Ram temple.
Yadav is an Independent MP from Purnia constituency in Bihar, while Awadhesh Prasad is the Samajwadi Party MP from Faizabad (Ayodhya) seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Seer Jagatguru Balak Das said the manner in which Pappu Yadav insulted Lord Ram and Sanatan Dharma in the House was unforgivable.