A long-standing rift regarding the authority over a temple in ATS Advantage, a residential society in Indirapuram, took an ugly turn on Saturday. A group of residents, who were also the members of the dissolved trust, filed a police complaint against the Apartment Owners Association (AOA) for alleged burglary from the temple’s treasury.
The residents, in their complaint, named 11 members along with AOA president Sanjay Jain and secretary Shekhar Vikas for breaking the lock of the Daan Peti (treasury) and taking the amount into their custody.
In the last week of October, the AOA formed a 14-member committee to handle the temple affairs. However, members of the same committee were alleged of the burglary.
On one hand where the members of the dissolved trust are calling this act as unannounced and uncalled for, the AOA, on the other, refuted the allegation of burglary. Though, they admit to their act of breaking the lock but calls it necessary.
“We had sent several written notices to the trust regarding the handover. The deadline was November 4. After receiving no response from them, we proceeded with this action,” Jain said while showing the written notices to the correspondent.
However, members of the dissolved trust denied receiving any such notices from the AOA.
When City Spidey contacted police and enquired about the matter, they told they would have to evaluate the nature of the case. “We have received the complaint and we are assessing whether the case is of criminal nature or not,” said Ashok Upadhyaya, Neeti Khand chowki in-charge.
“For now, the amount has been handed over to Sanjay Jain,” he added.
The temple, for a long time, has been a center of controversy between the residents and the AOA. Earlier, a trust named Shiv Durga Mandir Trust, used to look after the temple. It got dissolved after the Ghaziabad Development Authority, in its order dated June 25, deemed it illegal. As per the AOA, it attempted to take charge of the temple and its assets several times but the process delayed due to the former trust’s unwillingness to transfer.
Besides, former city magistrate, Santosh Bahadur Singh, in his letter to Deputy Registrar (DR), dated August 20, had reprimanded the current AOA for spotting financial irregularities in their records.
The AOA completed its one-year term on October 10 and the elections are yet to be announced.
