Muslim woman exposes temple fraud

NEW DELHI: A Muslim woman has brought out alleged misappropriation of Rs1.3 crore in a temple fund using the right to information (RTI) Act, resulting in the suspension of an official and initiation of a probe by state police.

Nargis Bahar, 42, an RTI activist at Kakatpur village, was approached by locals with complaints of alleged corrupt practices by an official of the Maa Mangala temple. “They had mismanaged and misappropriated trust properties and temple money,” Bahar said.

The temple in Puri district attracts lakhs of devotees from all over the world. Situated 50 km from the temple city of Puri, it is visited by the priests of the Jagannath temple during the Navakalebara festival.

The audit report received in reply to Bahar’s RTI application revealed that about Rs1.3 crore were not accounted for by the temple officials.