PUNE: Swami Govinddev Giri Maharaj on Tuesday said he would not step down as treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust following the donation theft case and said State Bank of India (SBI) officials responsible for streamlining the temple’s collections should have flagged the alleged embezzlement.Giri Maharaj spoke about the memorandum of understanding between the temple trust and SBI.He said, “The temple trustees come from spiritual backgrounds, with no knowledge of financial discipline. However, the bank officials appointed to streamline the temple collection are not spiritual preachers, but finance experts. They should have pointed out the possibility of theft of donations.”The trust’s general secretary Champat Rai resigned recently after the case of alleged donation embezzlement came to light. Giri Maharaj said Rai gave the responsibility to Anil Mishra and it was negligence on their part to not notice that money was being swindled.He said he would never influence the SIT probe in the case and emphasised he would not resign as the trust’s treasurer.“My responsibility was to maintain the accounts of the collection getting deposited into the trust’s accounts. Till date, all the records are up to the mark. Reports that I have resigned are false. Some made claims about me owning property. I want to make it clear that not even a single brick is in my name. The flats in Pune as mentioned in certain news articles belong to the trust,” he said.Giri Maharaj also said many media reports have exaggerated the amount of the alleged embezzlement. “My estimate is around Rs 3 crore, but the SIT will establish the exact amount in its probe.”Meanwhile, he admitted to lacunae in security arrangements that allowed people to siphon off money donated to the temple.He said, “We must acknowledge the fact that there were lapses on the trust’s part. In the coming days, we will focus on strengthening the system to ensure no such incident happens again in the temple.”“The trust will ensure that every corner of the temple is under CCTV camera surveillance operational round the clock. Every member will undergo thorough frisking while entering and exiting the premises,” he added.
