Jammu, 14 July. The fire of theft of offerings and embezzlement of donations in temples started in the Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya that its flame has spread through various temples of the country and has now reached the court of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi.
20 Tons of silver offerings were adulterated or embezzled
In fact, a Jammu court has sought complete records from the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police in connection with allegations that about 20 tonnes of silver offerings (worth an estimated Rs 550 crore) made by devotees at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple were either adulterated, altered or embezzled.
The court has directed the investigating officer to appear in person along with the records of the case on July 29. The order comes amid allegations that when the shrine board sent the collected offerings to the government mint, metallurgical tests revealed that only five per cent of the consignment was genuine silver while the rest contained mainly cadmium and iron.
The price of silver reduced from Rs 550 crore to Rs 30 crore.
According to the report, the complaint filed in the court states that this reduced its estimated price from around Rs 550 crore to around Rs 30 crore. The proceedings have been initiated by a petition filed by Jammu-based lawyer Deepak Sharma, in which he has sought registration of FIR against unknown persons.
Jammu lawyer Deepak Sharma has made these allegations in a petition
Advocate Deepak Sharma has alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, embezzlement, adulteration, alteration of silver offerings and manipulation of official records. The complaint also raised concerns about the presence of poisonous cadmium in the offerings.
Crime Branch Appearing before the CJM submitted a status report
Meanwhile, the crime branch appeared before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJN) and submitted a status report, stating that the complaint was forwarded to the crime headquarters in Srinagar and later to the zonal police headquarters in Jammu for necessary action. However, the complainant argued that mere forwarding of the complaint does not fulfill the legal obligation to lodge an FIR, especially when cognizable offenses have been detected.
Crime branch instructed to be present with complete records on the next date.
The court has now directed the investigating officer of the crime branch to remain personally present with the complete records related to the complaint on the next date of hearing. In the objections filed in the court, Deepak Sharma argued that despite complaints being lodged with the Crime Branch on May 9 and May 13, 2026, no FIR was registered nor any concrete investigation steps were taken.
He argued that the status report did not state whether any preliminary investigation was initiated, whether records were seized, CCTV footage was preserved, witnesses were interrogated or forensic investigation was conducted. According to the complainant, the only action shown in the report was the exchange of the complaint between different police offices.
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