Naresh Shenoy took away ₹24L Ratha Kanike before Vinayaka Baliga murder: Reveals court documents

Mangaluru

Court documents accessed by blrpost.com reveal that Naresh Shenoy, the prime accused in the brutal murder of activist Vinayak Baliga, allegedly took the entire Ratha Kanike collection in an Innova car to his residence during the Venkataramana Temple car festival in February 2016.

Baliga had reportedly raised serious objections to the alleged handling of the temple’s offerings and insisted that the money be deposited in the temple’s bank account before being transferred to the seer through a cheque.

Ratha Kanike refers to cash offerings made by devotees of the Kashi Mutt during the annual car festival of the Venkataramana Temple on Car Street in Mangaluru. The offerings are traditionally meant for the seer of the mutt.

Baliga was brutally murdered outside his residence at Kodialbail on March 21, 2016. Following the investigation, police filed a chargesheet against Shenoy, Shrikanth, Shivaprasad, Vinit Poojary, Nishit Devadiga, Shailesh and Manjunath Shenoy. The trial is currently under way, and the accused are out on bail.

According to a court document dated March 21, 2017, Shenoy allegedly arrived near the temple in an Innova along with a group of followers during the car festival and took the entire Ratha Kanike collection, amounting to ₹24 lakh, to his residence.

The document states that Baliga opposed the move, maintaining that although the money was intended for Srimad Samyamendra Thirtha Swamiji, there was a proper procedure that had to be followed.

According to the document, the collection should first have been deposited in the temple’s bank account. The amount was then to be transferred to the Swamiji through a cheque drawn from the temple’s account.

Baliga allegedly raised the issue and insisted on adherence to the financial procedure. The court document records this dispute as one of the key circumstances linked to the alleged motive behind his murder.

The documents further reveal that Baliga had, even before the Ratha Kanike controversy, approached the court seeking a re-audit of the temple’s financial accounts. The court subsequently ordered a re-audit, which was scheduled for April 2016.

However, Baliga was murdered on March 21, 2016, weeks before the scheduled re-audit could take place.

The sequence of events has now come into focus as the trial in the murder case continues, with the court records shedding light on Baliga’s efforts to question the handling of temple funds and demand greater financial accountability.