Maharashtra: ACB nabs accounts officer of Tulja Bhavani temple trust for accepting bribe of Rs 6 lakh

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The accounts officer of the trust overseeing the Tulja Bhavani temple in Maharashtra's Dharashiv district has been arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 6 lakh, a police official confirmed on Thursday.

A PTI report stated that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday arrested the accounts officer identified as Siddeshwar Shinde, aged 39, from the Tuljapur Bhavani temple premises following a complaint from a contractor.

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According to the report, the contractor had secured a contract for developmental work worth Rs 3.88 crore at a local Sainik school which is administered by the temple trust's management. The accounts officer Shinde was demanding money from the contractor to release pending payment.

Reportedly, the contractor had completed 90 per cent of the work and Shinde had already approved bills totalling over Rs 2 crore for his work. However, he demanded Rs 10 lakh from the contractor to facilitate the release of the pending payment and return of the security deposit amounting to Rs 34.6 lakh. After negotiations, Shinde agreed to accept Rs 6 lakh, the PTI report added.

Shinde has been booked under relevant sections by Tuljapur Police and they will be seeking his remand after presenting him in court, the PTI report further stated.

An official from ACB Dharashiv told the news agency that they had also searched Shinde's residence and during the searches, they recovered 270 grams of gold and Rs 6.08 lakh in cash.

The centuries-old Tulja Bhavani temple is a revered pilgrimage site, attracting numerous visitors annually.

Meanwhile, the Dharashiv Collector had established a committee to probe alleged irregularities concerning ornaments associated with the revered Goddess of the temple, stated another report in PTI.

The PTI report quoted an official saying that an audit of the temple's assets had revealed that they had received 207 kgs of gold, and 1280 kgs of silver; however, the recent audit highlighted discrepancies in the number.

The collector told PTI that, "Earlier, a count was conducted, but there have been alterations in some ornaments, which have now come to our attention. The precise details about these ornaments will be outlined in the final report. I cannot comment until the final report is issued."

with PTI inputs