India, Aug. 5 -- The state government has ordered an audit of the Shree Siddhivinayak Temple Trust's accounts for the last five years, after temple functionaries met deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday. After the meeting, Shinde directed the state law and judiciary department, which oversees the administration of the trust, to conduct the audit.

The development comes amid allegations of theft of donations made by devotees at the temple in Prabhadevi, one of the wealthiest in the country. The controversy was further stoked on Saturday, when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray quoted from a letter written by the temple trustees to Shinde, urging an investigation into the theft of donations.

The MNS chief said t...