Missing wealth: Sai trustees to get notice

Members of the Shri Satya Sai Central Trust will be issued notices in connection with the case of missing wealth from the ashram. Sources in the police department said that the notices will be issued shortly and the trustees will have to depose before the investigating officer.

A huge row had broken out after some persons were arrested while transporting Rs 35.5 lakh allegedly from the ashram. The driver of the one of the trustees had told the police that he had been asked to load the cash in the car and later the amount was handed over to a person from Bangalore.

While the trust denied that the money belonged to them some devotees on Monday morning said that the money was being taken out of the trust to be paid to a builder.

Deputy Superintendent of Police K Krishna, in Ananthpur district said that he has no doubt that the money was being taken from the ashram. "We are interrogating three persons in this regard and we need to now establish if the money belonged to the ashram or an individual in the ashram," Krishna said.

Meanwhile, The Telugu Desam Party has demanded the arrest of Venu Srinivasan and R J Ratnakar. The TDP also demanded an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge in the diversion of treasure from the trust and the involvement of some political leaders in it.

In a statement issued on Monday, senior TDP leader and the Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, Dadi Veerabhadra Rao, held Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy responsible for the 'murky' happenings at the trust. Rao said that the chief minister had remained a mute spectator even as reports suggested that huge cash, diamonds and other valuables were being clandestinely moved out of Yajur Mandir, the private chambers of Satya Sai Baba since he was hospitalised on March 28.

With inputs from PTI