Baba To Stay With Babu

Trader goes back on promise to donate Sai Baba idol, which, he claimed, miraculously opened its left eye last year; says Baba wants to stay with him

Baba To Stay With Babu

Trader goes back on promise to donate Sai Baba idol, which, he claimed, miraculously opened its left eye last year; says Baba wants to stay with him

Bangalore: The man who promised to give away the idol of Shirdi Sai Baba that is said to have miraculously opened its left eye last year is doing no such thing.

Apart from promising to give the marble idol to Shirdi, A Babu, a phenyl trader, had also promised to give away the money that poured in after he made the "miracle" public.

According to him, his wife and son were washing the image when the miracle took place. An observer had put the collection at about Rs 5 lakh though Babu said he collected only Rs 90,000.

Babu says he's distributed the money to various religious charities Rs 25,000 to Shirdi Sai Baba temple, Rs 15,000 to Ramanasri Blind School, Rs 20,000 to Siddaganga Muth and Rs 10,000 to Karnataka Blind Welfare Association.

He claims doesn't remember where the rest of the money went. "I sent 13 people, who worked for me on a free trip to Shirdi. Maybe the money wentu00a0 there," he said.
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On why he was keeping the idol with him, he said, "Baba blessed me at my house, and should be there with me."
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When MiD DAY reminded him of his promise that he would send it to Shirdi, he said, "It is Baba's order that he must be with me."
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Meanwhile, Sureswarananda Bharathi, pontiff of Gosai Muth, is accusing Babu of having cooked up the miracle so he can continue living on disputed land.
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"The house in Babu's possession has been built on land that belongs to us. The court has clearly said this.
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When we filed an execution suit, Babu instigated others to file objections. He created the miracle drama and is keeping the idol with him," he said.

Babu was livid when MiD DAY asked him if the swami's allegations were true.

"The swami is a cheat. Ask him to show you the documents and then come to me. We are paying tax and nobody can evict us," he said.

Babu who?

Babu has lived in the south Bangalore neighbourhood of Gavipuram for over 30 years.

People in the area say he was once booked for extortion and other crimes.

He recently set up a small home unit to produce phenyl and other chemicals.

Kempe Gowda Nagar police said there is no case pending against him.

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