Bhubaneswar: The mahant of Puri’s Emar Mutt and six others were arrested for theft on Wednesday, a month after 522 British-era silver bricks were found there.
Police seized 340 kg of silver bricks and Rs 6 lakh cash from the accused, including three gold and silver traders from Puri and Cuttack. The mahant, Rajgopal Ramanuj Das, sold off the mutt’s treasure in connivance with the others.
The mutt came under the scanner after the police discovered 18 tonnes of silver bricks worth nearly Rs 80 crore on February 26. They were found after two persons in Dhenkanal were arrested for stealing silver bricks from the 700-year-old mutt during renovation. The mutt is situated in front of the Jagannath temple.
“The mahant confessed he connived with gold and silver traders to sell the silver bricks. He had feigned ignorance about the huge wealth and concealed the property details of the mutt,’’ SP (Puri) Sanjay Kumar said.
The bricks are currently kept in the mutt amid tight security. The Orissa High Court recently directed the government not to shift the property till the next hearing on April 4.
Police have frozen bank accounts of the accused and seized two luxury cars. The role of the state endowment wing has also come under scanner after its officials found 41 silver slabs during routine inventory in one of the mutt’s rooms in August last year.
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