Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): The Mahakaleshwar Temple’s paid darshan scam continues to unravel. Despite over a dozen arrests, key masterminds behind the extortion network are still at large. The scandal, which came to light on December 19, 2024, reveals a pattern of corruption within the temple's management, where Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee (MTMC) employees extorted money from devotees in exchange for Bhasmaarti and paid darshan facilities.

The probe team has desisted from touching a few high-ranking officials suspected of facilitating this racket, thus raising a question over the ongoing probe. The probe continues but will the real culprits face justice? Sources privy to the probe told Free Press that during interrogation, the prime accused claimed that they paid Rs 1 lakh per month to two MTMC officials for patronage.

Despite the claims, the two officials were never named as accused in the case. Instead, one of them was even ‘rewarded’ with key responsibility in the day-to-day affairs of the temple. Sources claimed that the probe team came to know about a self-styled media person who constructed two houses through bank loans.

However, both loans were repaid within a short duration. The accused is on the run. Collector-cum-MTMC chairman Neeraj Kumar Singh said that only 30% of probe had been completed so far. As the scam was continuing for past several months, time was needed to complete the probe.

However, Mahakal TI Narendra Singh Parihar told Free Press that half of the probe was over. Efforts were on to arrest the remaining four accused. Not ruling out the inclusion of more persons as accused, he said that the money transaction trail and property accumulated by the accused were still being identified.

The scam was unearthed after MTMC detected a huge decline in day-to-day income through the paid darshan facility and Bhasmaarti darshan fee. The collection of paid darshan fee @Rs250 per person fell from Rs 20 lakh to a meagre Rs 10 lakh per day. A similar downslide was witnessed in the collection of the Bhasmaarti darshan fee @Rs 200 per person.

Incidentally, the income through the above-mentioned fees shot up immediately after MTMC staff involved in the scandal was put behind bars. Sources claimed that the accused amassed huge property by extorting money from visitors in the name of bhasmaarti darshan and paid darshan facility.

They used to charge Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 per person for bhasmaarti darshan and sitting facility at Nandi Hall, respectively. During interrogation, the accused MTMC employees only shared details of one or two bank accounts. Currently, the cops are busy scurrying their other bank accounts through KYC details. The probe team has also written to Ujjain Municipal Corporation seeking details of the accused’s immovable properties.