Gandhi's spectacles, sandals missing from Rajkot memorial

Jaysinh Rathod, manager of Kasturba Dham, in an affidavit filed last month has said that some of Gandhiji's belongings were missing from the memorial.

Former managing trustee Pravin Ahya has been accused of auctioning Bapu's spectacles, sandals, a plate and a bowl in the US in 2002, according to the affidavit.

Rathod has also accused another trustee Vibhakar Vaccharajani of aiding and abetting Ahya in taking the articles out of the memorial. Police have taken statements of the people concerned to confirm whether the missing articles were kept at the memorial in past, ACP Nilesh Jinjadiya said.

The ACP said statements of people concerned have been recorded while Ahya is out of country and efforts are on to contact him.

"We have also checked records at Kasturba Dham from where the items were stated to be missing and at joint-charity commissioner office, but neither side was maintaining records making it difficult for the investigating team to confirm whether the items were in the memorial in the past," he said.

Vaccharajani has denied the allegation saying he had no idea whether the items had been kept at the memorial.