98 kg gold, 307 kg silver in Sai Baba's chamber

Puttaparthi: 98 kg of gold, 307 kg of silver apart from Rs 11.56 crore in cash, was found in an assessment of the inventory inside the late Sathya Sai Baba’s personal chamber ‘Yajur Mandir’ today. The Central Sathya Sai Trust, which conducted an inventory of the things stored inside the Yajur Mandir since it was broken open yesterday, came out with the  announcement this evening listing details of the treasure trove. [caption id=“attachment_27589” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The cash has been deposited in the bank account of the Central Trust with the State Bank of India at Prashanti Nilayam.  Reuters”]  [/caption] The assessment was done in the presence of retired judge of Supreme Court A P Mishra and retired judge of Karnataka High Court Vaidyanatha.   An assessor approved by the Income Tax Department was also present to assist in evaluating the gold, jewellery and silver, Trust member and Sai Baba’s nephew R J Ratnakar told the media. Apart from five trustees, two members of the Council of Management including former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagavati, were also present as independent witnesses, he said. “The sole purpose of the exercise was to make an inventory of the valuables within the premises in a transparent manner,” Ratnakar said. The cash, as per the inventory, has been deposited in the bank account of the Central Trust with the State Bank of India at Prashanti Nilayam. Gold, Silver and Jewellery was assessed by the certified valuer approved by Income Tax Department, he added. There were several rumours that valuables from inside the Yajur Mandir were secretly shifted to undisclosed locations when Sai Baba was undergoing treatment in hospital during April. The Yajur Mandir had remained closed ever since Sai Baba was hospitalised on March 28. Sai Baba passed away on April 24. However, Bhagavati, who is also the Chancellor of Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning and Trust member Venu Srinivasan had earlier denied all allegations and rumours. With a view to dispelling doubts among followers and the general public about various items inside the Mandir, the Sathya Sai Central Trust members decided at a meeting on June 15 on opening  the Yajur Mandir. Accordingly the doors of the Yajur Mandir were opened yesterday after obtaining the key from SBI, where it had been kept in safe custody.