New Delhi: A Varanasi based lawyer and former general secretary of the Bar Association, Nityanand Rai has shot off a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, complaining that gold had gone missing from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of prime minister Narendra Modi, in Uttar Pradesh.The report comes amid ongoing investigation into the alleged donation theft and fund embezzlement at Ayodhya Ram Mandir. In his letter, as quoted by Deccan Herald, Rai alleged that the ‘swarna kalash’ (golden spire) had gone missing from two places, including the ‘shikhar’ or spire of the temple. ‘’It’s a serious matter and needs a thorough probe,’’ he told the daily.Rai also cited previous incidents of gold and silver thefts from the temple.Rai also told reporters in Varanasi that he had written letters to the Commissioner, Varanasi, the district magistrate, PMO and the chief minister’s office last month seeking a response to his queries in this regard but none, barring the PMO, responded.The PMO, he said, had taken note of his complaint and had contacted him to know the details.These allegations were, however, denied by S. Rajalingam, the chairman of the temple executive committee and Varanasi commissioner, who told Dainik Bhaskar that some monkeys were playing in the temple premises and a small golden spire had fallen off in the process.“A golden spire placed above the northern gate recently fell off during monkey play. It has been safely stored in a storage room. It would not be appropriate to reinstall the spire without technical testing,” the administration said, per the report.The temple administration is reportedly conducting an internal investigation, following instructions from the chief minister’s office, and IIT Madras has been contacted to assess and repair the spire.