Ex-religious manager of Tuljabhavai temple held, Naikwadi had been absconding for a year, remanded in six-day police custody, he has been accused of stealing 71 coins, gold and silver ornaments presented by royalty

Aurangabad, Sept 20: The Tuljapur police on late Sunday night arrested the then religious manager of the Tuljabhavani temple at Tuljapur in Osmanabad district of Marathwada, Deelip Devidas Naikwadi, who has been accused of stealing valuables from the temple treasure. He had been absconding for the last one year. He was presented before the court and remanded into six-day police custody.

As reported earlier, the former president of the Priests Board Kishor Gangne had a lodged a complaint with the then collector Deepa Mudhol Munde through his lawyer Shirish Kulkarni regarding the theft. Munde had set up a committee to probe into the complaints.

It was revealed that Naikwadi misused his position during the period November 29, 2001 to November 30, 2018 and allegedly stole 348.661 gram gold and 71698.274 gram silver ware and 71 ancient coins from the treasure of the temple.

On the order of the present collector and president of the Tuljabhavani Mandir Sansthan Kaustubh Diwegaonkar a case of cheating had been registered against Naikwadi on September 13, 2020. Administrative officer and tehsildar Yogita Kolhe had lodged a complaint in this regard.

The three-member enquiry committee found that many ancient and valuable ornaments presented by old kings and rulers like Nizam, Aurangzeb, Portugal rulers, kings of Bikaner, Lucknow, Badoda and Indore to the Goddess Tuljabhvani were missing. Old coins were on the temple record till 1980 but Panchnamas made in 2005 and 2011 revealed that 71 ancient coins and ornaments were missing. Gangne through a Right to Information Act query sought details of the treasure. It is expected that investigations will reveal where all these valuables have gone.