Trustees ask police for more time regarding Sai Baba money statements

Hyderabad: Two members of Sathya Sai Central Trust R J Ratnakar and V Srinivasan have sought time till Monday for giving their statements to the Anantapur district police in connection with the transfer of huge amount of cash from Puttaparthy to Bangalore.

Both have received a notice from the police to come to the police station and give their statements.

Ratnakar and Srinivasan have denied the allegations that the money belonged to the Trust and it was being shifted out illegally.

The police today questioned Srinivasan’s personal assistant Venkatesh about the incident of last Saturday in which an amount of Rs 35 lakhs was seized from a Trust vehicle going from Puttaparthy to Bangalore.

Arrested

Meanwhile three persons Harishnand Shetty, Sohan Shetty and Shekhar, who were arrested in connection with the cash transfer have been granted bail by the Hindupur court on Friday.

The police on the other hand has given a notice to the Sathya Sai Central Trust secretary and former IAS office Chakravarthy to provide the register of the movement of vehicles coming to the Yajurveda Mandir, the residential quarters of late Sathya Sai Baba.

The move assumes significance in the backdrop of allegations that VIPs vehicles were used to transfer the money and the other valuables from Yajurveda Mandir.

Alleged irregularities

In another development Sai Baba’s personal assistant Satyajeet on Friday appeared before the media for the first time only to say that he had nothing to do with the alleged irregularities in the Trust.

“I am just an ordinary devotee and servant of Baba. I am not that big to say any thing about this matter”, he said when asked about the allegations levelled against the two Trustees.

He also denied the allegations that his neglect of Baba was the cause of his illness and death.