Looting God’s money, theft in temples are only the harmful effects of Government takeover of temples

When will action be taken against other corrupt people who looted God’s money from Shri Tuljabhavani Temple ? : Asks Hindu Janajagruti Samiti in a Press note

The Ex-religious manager Dilip Naikwadi, who was absconding in connection with the theft of ancient jewellery, objects and ancient coins of Shri Tuljabhavani Devi, a place of worship for millions of Hindus and a Kulaswamini (Family Deity) of Maharashtra, was arrested by the Tuljapur Police after one year; however, this is not enough.

The scope and period of the robbery in case of Shri Tuljabhavani Devi’s treasure is vast. Dilip Naikwadi is unlikely to be the only culprit. The masterminds of the case, the junior and senior Government officials working at the time, as well as the number of direct and indirect participants in the looting are very high. Therefore, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has asked when will the Police take action against all these corrupt people.

From 29^th November 2001 to 30^th November 2018, Dilip Naikwadi stole very ancient ornaments of Shri Tuljabhavani Devi, as well as about 348.661 grams of gold and 71,698.274 grams of silver and 71 ancient coins offered by the devotees. HJS congratulates Kishor Gangane, former Chairman of the Tuljapur Pujari Mandal, for filing a complaint in this regard. Such awareness should be there in all devotees. Naikwadi should be dealt with severely so that no one dares to plunder the property of the Goddess. The Police should also continue to take strict action without succumbing to any pressure until all the items, coins and jewellery looted from the Goddess’s treasury are recovered.

HJS has consistently raised the issue of donation box of hundreds of crores of Rupees and 265 acres of land scam of Shri Tuljabhavani Temple from 1991 to 2009. HJS had filed a petition in the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court. Criminal Investigation Department has submitted the investigation report of the scam to the Home Ministry in 2017 as per the Court order. However, it is still not clear who is the real culprit and who to take action against. To take action against the culprits, starred questions were raised in the State Assembly, MLAs agitated in the Assembly, devout Hindu organisations across the State also conducted several agitations; however, why is the Government not sensitive in the matter ? Such cases prove how the temple was looted – due to Government take-over of the temples. No matter how many attempts are made to save the culprits, the scamsters should realise that in God’s house there may be delay, but no one can suppress such scams permanently ! We believe that Adishakti Shri Tuljabhavani will not spare anyone without meting severe punishment to the culprits.