New Delhi:
Six persons have been taken into custody and a police case lodged following allegations of theft of offerings at the Ayodhya Ram temple. The First Information Report mentions eight accused, six of whom are temple employees responsible for counting cash. All eight were caught embezzling money on CCTV cameras, sources said. The list includes Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Ramshankar Mishra, Ramashankar Yadav, Manish Yadav, Subhash Chandra Srivastava and Karunesh Pandey.
A search is on for Ramshankar Yadav, who is driver of the Trust’s General Secretary Champat Rai and one more person..
The First Information Report was lodged earlier this evening following a complaint filed by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Reports say nearly Rs 7 to 7.5 crore is missing.
How The Issue Unfolded
The issue of siphoning of donations was flagged first by the Samajwadi Party. Among allegations from other leaders, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had claimed that crores of rupees from donations are going missing and demanded judicial intervention, pointing to the silence of the Trust and the government.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had initially asked the government to order an investigation to establish the facts and dispel what it described as rumours on social media “to tarnish the image of the Ram temple and hurt the faith of millions of devotees”.
The government subsequently ordered an inquiry by a Special Information Team, comprising Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S and Finance Department Special Secretary Neel Ratan.
Nripendra Mishra, the retired IAS officer who heads the Temple Construction Committee, had said the allegations of theft of donation money had left Prime Minister Narendra Modi worried.
Leaders of the BJP had responded with concern and dismay.
Prominent leader of Ram Janmabhoomi movement and former BJP MP Vinay Katiyar had said the allegation of irregularities in the temple donation fund was very serious.
“People have sacrificed their lives for the cause of this temple. Me, Kalyan Singh (former Uttar Pradesh chief minister), and so many other went to jail,” he said.
Following today’s arrests, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Mohammad Azam said, “Today it has been acknowledged that theft took place in the Ram Temple. This is a victory for Ram devotees”.
