Loopholes in temple donation collection reason for ₹18 crore gap: Siddhivinayak Temple Trust Board

The Siddhivinayak Temple Board of Trustees on Monday (August 3, 2026) admitted that there were loopholes in the collection of donations and said it had sought a probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Maharashtra Law and Judiciary Department.

This comes after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray on Sunday (August 2, 2026) alleged that donations worth ₹18 crore were being siphoned off every year at the Siddhivinayak Temple. He said that even temples were not safe these days and also alleged that ₹1,400 crore had been stolen at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

“Some loopholes were being used, which we have stopped. Money taken for doing a darshan was stopped. Then the dalals who roamed around the temple and would ask for money which was stopped. All temple workers and security guards used to be paid through Google Pay for a darshan, which has been stopped as well,” Sadanand Shankar Sarvankar, Chairperson of the Siddhivinayak Trust Board.

The trust has said that 46 employees have been suspended so far in the issue, while nine workers were arrested.

“The donations that were taken two years ago were counted regularly every eight days on a Wednesday; the donations were filled up in a bag the same day. The collection for the donations two years ago was ₹45-₹50 lakh weekly. But now we are receiving ₹98 lakh weekly,” said Rahul Tukaram Londhe, Siddhivinayak Trust Board trustee.

“In 2022-23, the annual temple donation collection was ₹106 crore, and after that in 2023-24, it was ₹114 crore. In September 2024, the Trust board saw that the budget for 2024-25 was ₹134.35 crore. This year in March, the budget we had was ₹182 crore. This is the increase in donations we noticed,” Mr. Londhe said.

“This is why we have written a letter to Vishwas Nangare Patil of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, to launch an inquiry into the discrepancies: why it was so much less before, and why it has increased after this trust board was formed,” Mr. Londhe added.

“Nine workers were arrested in connection with this incident. They would find where the donation box was kept and take it up to the third floor, where they would take out the money. We caught all the earlier workers on the CCTV camera and removed them. The new workers were also caught on the CCTV. They were reported to the police, and action was taken immediately. They were under the employment of a former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA,” Mr. Sarvankar said.

Eight workers - Rajendra Pendulkar, Anil Krishna Rahate, Arvind Kharge, Sharad Ghadi, Samir Rajendra Shevelkar, Padmakar Bange Shadalkar, Abhishikt Balakrishna Mali, and Narendra Balaram Mahije - were arrested and kept in police custody, then in NCR jail custody, and then released on bail. One worker, Naresh Khade, was absconding for three months. However, he applied for anticipatory bail on June 17, 2026.

“We believe the donations of the worshippers should be used for the right reasons, whether it is ₹1,000 or ₹1,” Mr. Londhe said.