Trust members say no ‘will’ of Baba recovered
A massive amount of wealth, including crores of rupees and heaps of gold and silver jewellery, was found at Yajurveda Mandir, the personal chambers of Sathya Sai Baba on Friday.
The tightly-guarded chambers, which were locked since March 28 when Sai Baba was admitted to hospital, were opened on Friday by members of the Sathya Sai Central Trust, one-and-a-half months after his death.
After counting of all the valuables inside the chambers, the Trust announced details of the wealth found in the Yajurveda. It includes `11.56 crore in cash, 98 kg of gold and 307 kg of silver.
However, details of the papers and other valuables were not known. Trust members clarified that they did not find any will of Baba in the chambers. Officials of the State Bank of India and the income tax department were also present when the chambers were unlocked. However, the media and police were kept at bay by the Trust.
According to the Trust, all valuables have been deposited with the SBI after inventory. Sources said a large quantity of foreign currency was also found with the ornaments, gifted to Baba by his devotees.
Apart from trust members PN Bhagwati, SV Giri, V Srinivasan and Baba’s nephew RJ Ratnakar, Baba’s personal assistant Satyajeet was also present during the 36-hour-long exercise, in which students of Sathya Sai institutions counted the money and other valuables.
Sources said many of the packets, containing gifts from devotees, were lying unopened since his death. These were also opened and taken into account.
Opening of the chambers attracted a lot of attention as there was wild speculation during the ailment of Sai Baba that some people had siphoned off the boxes of valuables from Baba’s residence.
The Yajurveda was the zealously guarded personal residential part of Prashanti Nilayam Ashram of Sai Baba in Puttaparthy town.
V Srinivasa, a prominent industrialist and member of the trust, said even they were never allowed to enter the chambers with prior appointment from the Sathya Sai Baba and even then, they were confined only to the ground floor. Baba would come down to meet trust members, he had said after the death of Baba.
According to insider accounts, when the team of trust members and others entered the chambers of Sai Baba, bundles of currency, gold and diamonds were found kept in an organised manner. As a precautionary measure, the entire proceedings of counting of cash and valuables was videographed by the Trust.
Still, the exercise was not without its share of tittle-tattle.
Prashanti Nilayam Ashram was agog with rumours that a handwritten will by Sathya Sai Baba was found in the chambers and that he had willed that his personal assistant, Satyajeet, should be given an important position in the Trust.
However, the Trust members strongly denied this.
Interestingly, these rumours about Satyajeet have kept surfacing since the death of Baba. Satyajeet, who spent his entire life — ever since the age of five years — at the ashram and did his MBA from the Sathya
Sai University, had served Baba till his last breath.
It is also well known that there is a cold war brewing between Satyajeet and Baba’s nephew Ratnakar on who should be the chairman of the Central Trust.
The value of the assets of the Satya Sai Central Trust has also been matter of wild conjectures. It has been put between Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Though the Trust has issued the details of its properties and assets, it had not put any price tag on them.
Despite the enormous amount of wealth Satya Sai Baba left behind under the aegis of his trusts, the amount of cash and ornaments found in his residences has raised many an eyebrows.
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| Sathya Sai Baba |
The tightly-guarded chambers, which were locked since March 28 when Sai Baba was admitted to hospital, were opened on Friday by members of the Sathya Sai Central Trust, one-and-a-half months after his death.
After counting of all the valuables inside the chambers, the Trust announced details of the wealth found in the Yajurveda. It includes `11.56 crore in cash, 98 kg of gold and 307 kg of silver.
However, details of the papers and other valuables were not known. Trust members clarified that they did not find any will of Baba in the chambers. Officials of the State Bank of India and the income tax department were also present when the chambers were unlocked. However, the media and police were kept at bay by the Trust.
According to the Trust, all valuables have been deposited with the SBI after inventory. Sources said a large quantity of foreign currency was also found with the ornaments, gifted to Baba by his devotees.
Apart from trust members PN Bhagwati, SV Giri, V Srinivasan and Baba’s nephew RJ Ratnakar, Baba’s personal assistant Satyajeet was also present during the 36-hour-long exercise, in which students of Sathya Sai institutions counted the money and other valuables.
Sources said many of the packets, containing gifts from devotees, were lying unopened since his death. These were also opened and taken into account.
Opening of the chambers attracted a lot of attention as there was wild speculation during the ailment of Sai Baba that some people had siphoned off the boxes of valuables from Baba’s residence.
The Yajurveda was the zealously guarded personal residential part of Prashanti Nilayam Ashram of Sai Baba in Puttaparthy town.
V Srinivasa, a prominent industrialist and member of the trust, said even they were never allowed to enter the chambers with prior appointment from the Sathya Sai Baba and even then, they were confined only to the ground floor. Baba would come down to meet trust members, he had said after the death of Baba.
According to insider accounts, when the team of trust members and others entered the chambers of Sai Baba, bundles of currency, gold and diamonds were found kept in an organised manner. As a precautionary measure, the entire proceedings of counting of cash and valuables was videographed by the Trust.
Still, the exercise was not without its share of tittle-tattle.
Prashanti Nilayam Ashram was agog with rumours that a handwritten will by Sathya Sai Baba was found in the chambers and that he had willed that his personal assistant, Satyajeet, should be given an important position in the Trust.
However, the Trust members strongly denied this.
Interestingly, these rumours about Satyajeet have kept surfacing since the death of Baba. Satyajeet, who spent his entire life — ever since the age of five years — at the ashram and did his MBA from the Sathya
Sai University, had served Baba till his last breath.
It is also well known that there is a cold war brewing between Satyajeet and Baba’s nephew Ratnakar on who should be the chairman of the Central Trust.
The value of the assets of the Satya Sai Central Trust has also been matter of wild conjectures. It has been put between Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Though the Trust has issued the details of its properties and assets, it had not put any price tag on them.
Despite the enormous amount of wealth Satya Sai Baba left behind under the aegis of his trusts, the amount of cash and ornaments found in his residences has raised many an eyebrows.
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