Mumbai Crime: Siddhivinayak Temple Employee Arrested For Stealing Money From Donation Box

Mumbai: A shocking incident occurred at the Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi, where an employee allegedly stole money from a donation box. The matter came to light on Friday, following which the Dadar Police registered a case and arrested the accused.

The accused has been identified as Rajendra Pendhurkar, 57, a resident of Lower Parel. He allegedly stole Rs. 10,000 from the donation box. Meanwhile, Sada Sarvankar, Chairman of the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust, stated that five more employees were also involved in the crime.

According to the police, the complainant, Bina Patil, works at the Siddhivinayak Temple. On Friday, while examining CCTV footage, she noticed that Pendhurkar had allegedly stolen a donation box and stolen money. She immediately informed her seniors.

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Subsequently, the trust members reviewed CCTV footage from the past eight to ten days and found that the accused had been repeatedly stealing money from the donation boxes.

The trust then approached the Dadar Police and filed a complaint. The police registered a case of theft and arrested the accused on Friday. He was produced before the court, which remanded him to police custody until Sunday.

During the investigation, the accused told the police that he had stolen only Rs. 10,000. However, since he had allegedly been stealing money frequently, the police suspect that the total amount could be higher, which is currently under investigation.

Trust President Sada Sarvankar said, “Pendhurkar was a permanent employee at the temple. Donation boxes are placed at various locations within the temple premises. In the evening, employees kept donation boxes on the second floor. However, CCTV footage revealed that Pendhurkar, along with five other employees, took the boxes to the third floor and turned them upside down.”

He further added that strict action will be taken against all employees involved in the theft. “We will suspend those found guilty. It is difficult to determine the exact amount stolen, but the theft appears to have been ongoing for the last several days, and we gave five other employees' names to the police” he said.

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