Wardha, Maharashtra:
Mahatma Gandhi's spectacles have been missing from the Sevagram Ashram in Wardha since November, officials revealed on Monday. The state government has ordered a probe into the incident.
Ashram president MM Gadkari said its employees were asked to keep silent about the missing glasses.
"We had made a list of the belongings of Gandhiji that were placed in the hut where he used to stay," Gadkari told IANS.
"Somehow, the glasses were not included in the list. Those who cleaned the hut took a few days to realise that the glasses are missing," he added.
The ashram authorities are yet to register a police complaint. "We have not received any theft or missing complaint," Wardha Deputy Superintendent of Police M.G. Nale told IANS.
"I met with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan as soon as I came to know of the missing glasses. He immediately ordered a high-level inquiry into it," Rajendra Mulak, Wardha's guardian minister, told IANS.
When asked why a police complaint was not registered, Gadkari said the board of trustees will meet and decide on action.
Gadkari said that a social activist visited the ashram a few days back, and added that it is possible that he might have noticed the missing glasses.
"Gandhiji's other belongings are, however, intact," Gadkari said.
Mahatma Gandhi came to Wardha, 75 km from Nagpur, in 1936 and settled at the ashram which receives around 300,000 visitors every year.