‘Rats-on-laddoo visuals not from Siddhivinayak’

Mumbai: The management of Siddhivinayak temple, Prabhadevi, on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of contamination in its prasad kitchen located within the temple premises. On Monday, visuals had emerged of a cluster of mice pups nestling purportedly upon the temple's famous laddoo prasad. The packets were piled in a blue plastic tray. Another photo showed torn packets of laddoos infested with rats.
Over 50,000 laddoos and ‘nariyal wadi' are prepared as prasad items at Siddhivinayak every day and purchased by devotees.The visuals went viral, raising concerns about safety and hygiene.
But the temple trust denied allegations of negligence. On Tuesday the trust's chairman Sada Sarvankar of the Shiv Sena as well as executive officer Veena Patil claimed the visuals "did not appear to be from the temple premises." Both, however, said they would inquire into the matter.
Sarvankar said, "It is not possible for our prasad kitchen to be contaminated this way. We maintain high standards and quality checks. The contractor has 16-17 years of experience. This clip is intended to defame the temple's reputation. The state has lately allotted Rs 500 crore for Siddhivinayak's grand beautification project. I suspect is the trigger for this malicious campaign." He said, "But we will check our CCTV footage and a police officer of DCP rank will be appointed to conduct an inquiry. Action will be taken against the culprit."
He said all ingredients including ghee are periodically despatched to BMC labs for "quality checks."