Parsi punchayet trustees call for police probe into unaccounted cash
All the seven trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet -- one of the city’s richest trusts -- have called for a police probe into the unaccounted cash amounting to over Rs 21 lakh and gold jewellery found in their office. On Monday, the trustees, including the chairman Dinshaw Mehta, submitted a letter to the MRA police, asking them to start investigations.
“Police investigations will clear up conspiracy theories about the huge amount of cash found in the office,” said Mehta. The cash was found last Tuesday when the trustees and the legal staff of BPP -- a 350-year-old apex body for the 40,000 strong community --opened the cupboards of chief executive officer Mehli Colah, who died in December 2013. While Rs 20 lakh was found in a plastic bag in two bundles of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 5 lakh each, the remaining money and jewellery was found in drawers in Colah’s office.
The enmity among the BPP trustees is well known in the community. A few trustees have linked the unaccounted cash to the controversial sale of the tenancy of Dady House, on Bora Bazaar Street, Fort, last July. The chairman had claimed that Rs 45 lakhs was paid while two of the six trustees alleged that the sale was fixed at Rs 65 lakhs. Incidentally, the discrepant amount was exactly of Rs 20 lakh.
“Only two trustees allege that to the best of their recollection it was Rs 65 lakh,” said Mehta. He added that the money could be definitely traced back to a Parsi who died with an heir. “Many Parsis without any heir leave behind cash and jewellery which comes to the BPP office. This unaccounted cash could belong to one such Parsi,” he said.
“The trustees will have to file a complaint for us to investigate. I have told them so,” said senior police inspector Ashok Jagdale of MRA Marg police station.
“Police investigations will clear up conspiracy theories about the huge amount of cash found in the office,” said Mehta. The cash was found last Tuesday when the trustees and the legal staff of BPP -- a 350-year-old apex body for the 40,000 strong community --opened the cupboards of chief executive officer Mehli Colah, who died in December 2013. While Rs 20 lakh was found in a plastic bag in two bundles of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 5 lakh each, the remaining money and jewellery was found in drawers in Colah’s office.
The enmity among the BPP trustees is well known in the community. A few trustees have linked the unaccounted cash to the controversial sale of the tenancy of Dady House, on Bora Bazaar Street, Fort, last July. The chairman had claimed that Rs 45 lakhs was paid while two of the six trustees alleged that the sale was fixed at Rs 65 lakhs. Incidentally, the discrepant amount was exactly of Rs 20 lakh.
Despite allegations, Mehta has taken the lead in demanding police probe. “The trustees are simply defaming me. I have no qualms about the probe,” said Mehta. He added that four of the trustees have sworn affidavits, along with the outgoing and incoming tenants, citing that the transfer fees for the Dady House transaction was Rs 45 lakhs.
“Only two trustees allege that to the best of their recollection it was Rs 65 lakh,” said Mehta. He added that the money could be definitely traced back to a Parsi who died with an heir. “Many Parsis without any heir leave behind cash and jewellery which comes to the BPP office. This unaccounted cash could belong to one such Parsi,” he said.
“The trustees will have to file a complaint for us to investigate. I have told them so,” said senior police inspector Ashok Jagdale of MRA Marg police station.
