BJP leader withdraws plea for CBI probe into ‘missing’ Puri gold

Cuttack: The Orissa high court has allowed the withdrawal of a PIL filed in 2018 by BJP leader Samir Mohanty seeking a CBI probe on alleged disappearance of gold ornaments of the Puri Jagannath Temple.Mohanty had pointed out that 18.62 kg of gold ornaments and 116 kg of silver ornaments received as donations/gift sby the temple were kept in the Nazir Khana instead of Ratna Bhandar (treasury). Later, about 14.56 kg of the gold was kept in a bank locker but there is no record of the remaining 3.7 kg of gold, the petition had alleged.The two-judge bench of acting Chief Justice B R Sarangi and Justice M S Raman allowed the withdrawal of the PIL on Thursday after advocate S S Tripathy representing Mohanty filed a memo seeking permission to withdraw it. The bench said, “The said memo be kept on record. In view of it, the writ petition stands disposed of as withdrawn.”Earlier, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had claimed in a counter affidavit that the allegation about the missing 3.7 kg of gold ornaments was “baseless” as they had been “utilised”.But in a rejoinder to the counter affidavit, Mohanty questioned how the temple administration could utilise the gold ornaments received as donation/gift when the Jagannath Temple Foundation Committee held no meeting during the past 19 years. The committee with the chief minister as the chairman is the custodian of the ornaments received from devotees as gifts/ donations for the temple. Approval for the purported utilisation of the gold ornaments could not have been taken as it had not met in the past 19 years, he said.

Gold ornaments stolen from Coimbatore jewellery store

An unidentified person stole more than 150 sovereigns of gold ornaments from Jos Alukkas Jewellery in Coimbatore. Five special teams were formed to nab the burglar. CCTV footage showed a youth wearing a mask and gloves collecting gold ornaments. The shop's management suspects that workers involved in renovation work might have been involved in the burglary.

Andhra Pradesh: Gold ornaments of 24,00 people 'missing' as banker ends life

More than 2,400 people who took gold loans from a nationalized bank in Srikakulam district are now running from pillar to post. They suspect that gold ornaments were allegedly missing from the bank. This comes amid a suicide attempt by the concerned deputy manager of the bank over the allegations of missing gold ornaments. Bank officials are tight-lipped. People who mortgaged their ornaments are now staging protests in front of the SBI Gara mandal branch.

Coimbatore police recover 3.2kg of gold ornaments stolen from Jos Alukkas Jewellery

Coimbatore city police recovered 3.2 kg of gold ornaments stolen from Jos Alukkas Jewellery store. The thief, Vijayakumar, stole 4.6 kg of gold ornaments from the store. The police traced his identity and recovered 3.2 kg of gold from his residence and his relative's residence. Vijayakumar is facing multiple theft cases.

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