Gujarat: Two Mahudi temple trustees siphon off Rs 50 lakh

AHMEDABAD: A man from Kandivali (West) in Mumbai, a trustee with Mahudi Ghantakarn Mahavir temple, on Wednesday filed a complaint with Mansa police of Gandhinagar alleging that two trustees of the temple siphoned off gold worth Rs 50 lakh which was donated to the temple.

Bhupendra Vora, a resident of Lakshmisadan Society in Kandivali (West), said in his FIR that there are eight trustees with the Ghantakarn Mahavir temple in Mahudi of Gandhinagar. There are two trustees each from Vora and Shah communities and four from Mehta community. Vora said that there is a tradition of donating gold for the worshipping purpose in the temple during Dhanteras festival.

On February 15, 2023, when the trustees checked the quantity of gold in the temple, they found that around 800 grams of gold was less. When they enquired with an accountant, he pointed at the involvement of two trustees named Nilesh Mehta, a resident of Vasna, and Sunil Mehta, a resident of Paldi.

They found out through the CCTV footage of the temple that Nilesh and Sunil had once sent all the staffers of the temple outside and took the gold which had a fragrance of sandal. To avoid any suspicion, Nilesh had sought some sandal mixed oil from a priest which he rubbed on his body. He later went out of the temple with the gold.

Vora also stated in the FIR that Sunil and Nilesh had also stolen a gold chain from the temple’s treasury. He suspected that both of them had also stolen some cash from the temple and amount of which could not be known.

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