By IANS,
Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh) : The Sathya Sai Central Trust Tuesday said it had nothing to do with the cash seized by police and that it was given by devotees to build a samadhi of the late Sai Baba.
Denying allegations of financial irregularities after the police seized Rs.35 lakh, the trust said the money was paid to Bangalore-based Shankarnayana Consultancy Pvt Ltd. This was being taken by the firm’s employees to Bangalore when police seized the same.
Addressing a press conference, trust member V. Srinivasan said that since the trust was not a religious institution and cannot take up construction of a samadhi, it permitted devotees to undertake the work.
“A group of workers approached Ratnakar (a trustee) and expressed the desire to build a samadhi and handed over Rs.35 lakh. Since the trust was not going to do the work, it was decided to call the project consultant and give funds to him to meet expenses and procure materials,” he said.
Police seized the cash from a vehicle near Hindupur June 18 and arrested three people.
“We have given all the information to police,” said Srinivasan, who along with another trustee R.J. Ratnakar was questioned by police. He denied the vehicle belonged to the trust.
The project consultant has explained to the police that these funds given for building a samadhi and has asked police to release the funds.
“The donors have also filed affidavit in the court giving their PAN numbers and stating that that they have given the funds through Ratnakar for samadhi.”
A trust official accused the media of blowing the incident out of proportion, But he refused to reveal names of the donors, saying all the details were given to the court.
Srinivasan revealed that the trust has paid Rs.9.75 crore as income tax on the cash and valuables found in Yajur Mandir, the personal chamber of Sai Baba which was opened June 16.
“We have paid the income tax though there was no demand from the income tax department,” he said.
He said the trust was ready to submit a report about its activities and finances to the Andhra Pradesh government, which sought the information Monday.
Srinivasan claimed that there was no dearth of money for carrying out the activities of the trust and to run its university, hospitals and other institutions as Sai Baba had set up adequate corpus funds in the form of investments in fixed deposit and government bonds.
The trust declined to reveal the value of its assets, saying it was immaterial and it had not done a valuation of properties.
Srinivasan said while the trust decided on April 25 not to accept cash, it had no idea who gave the money and valuables found in Yajur Mandir. He, however, said Sai Baba had not kept anything for himself.