Mumbai, Aug 04:Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the state Law and Judiciary Department, which oversees the temple trust, to conduct the audit of Shree Siddhivinayak Temple Trust after meeting temple functionaries on Tuesday.
The move comes amid a political storm triggered by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who recently cited a letter written by the temple trustees to Shinde, claiming that temple employees were allegedly involved in siphoning off donation money.
Speaking at an event on Saturday, Thackeray alleged that the letter suggested nearly Rs 18 crore worth of donations were being stolen annually and demanded a detailed investigation into the matter.
According to Trust, the temple recorded Rs 182 crore in donations this year, compared with Rs 137 crore last year and Rs 104 crore in 2022-23.
It said the trust had been examining the reasons behind the comparatively lower collections in previous years and had requested the government to conduct a detailed audit of the last five years.
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