Treasure trove unearthed from Sai Baba's chamber

Puttaparthi (AP), June 17 (PTI) The mystery over the
treasure trove inside the late Sathya Sai Baba's personal
chamber 'Yajur Mandir' was on Friday unravelled with the
disclosure that it contained 98 kg of gold, 307 kg of silver
apart from Rs 11.56 crore in cash.
The Central Sathya Sai Trust, which conducted an
inventory of the things stored inside the Yajur Mandir since
it was broken open on Thursday, came out with the
announcement this evening listing details of the treasure
trove.
The assessment was done in the presence of retired
judge of Supreme Court A P Mishra and retired judge of
Karnataka High Court Vaidyanatha.
An assessor approved by the Income Tax Department
was also present to assist in evaluating the gold, jewellery
and silver, Trust member and Sai Baba’s nephew R J Ratnakar
told the media.
Apart from five trustees, two members of the Council
of Management including former Chief Justice of India PN
Bhagavati, were also present as independent witnesses, he
said.
Ratnakar, who read out the press release before the
media, gave the summary of the inventory saying Rs 11.56 crore
in cash, 98 kilogram gold, gold jewellery and 307 kg silver
articles, was found inside the Yajur Mandir.

"The sole purpose of the exercise was to make an
inventory of the valuables within the premises in a
transparent manner," Ratnakar said.
The cash, as per the inventory, has been deposited
in the bank account of the Central Trust with the State Bank
of India at Prashanti Nilayam. Gold, Silver and Jewellery was
assessed by the certified valuer approved by Income Tax
Department, he added.
There were several rumours that valuables from
inside the Yajur Mandir were secretly shifted to undisclosed
locations when Sai Baba was undergoing treatment in hospital
during April.
The Yajur Mandir had remained closed ever since Sai
Baba was hospitalised on March 28. Sai Baba passed away on
April 24.
However, Bhagavati, who is also the Chancellor of
Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning and Trust member Venu
Srinivasan had earlier denied all allegations and rumours.
With a view to dispelling doubts among followers and
the general public about various items inside the Mandir, the
Sathya Sai Central Trust members decided at a meeting on June
15 on opening the Yajur Mandir.
Accordingly the doors of the Yajur Mandir were
opened yesterday after obtaining the key from SBI, where it
had been kept in safe custody.