Some of the personal items of Mahatma Gandhi, kept in exhibition at Kasturba Dham near Rajkot, are missing and two trustees of the memorial have been accused of auctioning them in the US.
In an affidavit submitted to the Joint Charity Commissioner, Manager of Kasturba Dham Jaysinh Rathod has accused the trustee Pravin Ahya of taking way the articles and selling them off in an auction in the US. He accused another trustee Vibhakar Vaccharajani for helping Ahya.
Mr. Rathod has accused them of selling Mahatma Gandhi’s items like spectacles, sandals, plate and bowl.
Kasturba Dham, which is located near Tramba on the city’s outskirts, where Gandhiji’s wife Kasturba was kept under house arrest during freedom struggle, has been converted into a memorial. Many articles used by Mahatma Gandhi during different times had been kept there.
However, some items like Gandhiji’s spectacles, sandals, plate and bowl were missing from the Dham and the manager accused the two trustees of selling them in America by auctioning.
Meanwhile, Trustee Vibhakar Vaccharajani denied the allegation but admitted that the particular articles were presently not in Kasturba Dham. He said he had no idea whether the mementos had been kept there in the past.
