Gitanjali Panda, wife of murdered coach Biranchi Das has rejected the allegation that crores of rupees had been deposited in the two trusts floated in the name of child marathoner Budhia Singh and dispute over the trust funds was one of the reasons behind Biranchi’s brutal killing here last month.

Biranchi, the former coach of Budhia, was shot dead on April 13 and Orissa police have already arrested local gangster Raja Acharya and one of his associates in connection with the high profile killing.

The two trusts, Gitanjali said, had only a little over Rs 1 lakh in their accounts. While “Budhia Singh Trust for Welfare of Children” headed by senior IAS officer Priyabrat Patnaik, currently posted as an officer without duty by the Orissa government after his name cropped up in connection with Biranchi murder case, has Rs 1,05,061 in its account, the account of “Mr Budhia Singh Trust” is having only Rs 504 in it.

The first trust was floated in 2006.

However, according to Gitanjali, there was a need to start a second trust in 2007 because with a government servant as its head, it (the first trust) was facing a lot of procedural hurdles.

After his arrest from Goa recently, Raja Acharya the prime suspect in the coach murder case had said that he was not involved in the high profile killing and IAS officer Mr Patnaik had masterminded the Biranchi murder following a dispute over the funds (Rs 9 lakh) of the trusts floated in the name of Budhia Singh.

After Budhia’s split with his coach Biranchi last year, the child prodigy’s mother, Basanti Singh too had charged the coach of pocketing the funds which were collected in the name of her son. She had demanded an inquiry into the funds of both the Budhia trusts.

Gitanjali has said, the funds now available in the accounts of two Budhia Singh trusts will be handed over to the child marathoner, presently housed in a government run sports hostel here under the supervision of the state government, once he turns a major.