Ayodhya: Ahead of a key meeting of the Ram temple trust next week, its former chief Champat Rai has indicated he won’t continue with the “stigma” in the wake of the donation embezzlement controversy even as a priest in Ayodhya on Thursday accused him and “his gang” of illegally grabbing control of the shrine through forged documents.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, meanwhile, revisited Ayodhya and questioned Rai, another Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust member Anil Mishra and temple official Gopal Rao for the second time, sources said.
Unlike the earlier round, when the three were questioned separately, the SIT examined them together to reconstruct the sequence of events, understand how the alleged irregularities continued over a period of time and assess their respective roles, the sources said.
A call on Rai and Mishra, who have both resigned from their posts, is likely to be taken by a two-thirds majority at the trust’s meeting on July 6, sources said.
They also said Rai has told his close associates that his “service in Ayodhya is complete” and that he will not continue with the “stigma”.
According to the sources, Rai, who is currently in seclusion, said that his trust has been “betrayed”. However, he did not specify.
Monday’s meeting is also expected to deliberate on key issues concerning the trust management particularly in light of the recommendations of the SIT formed by the Uttar Pradesh government last month to look into the allegations of embezzlement.
The participation of trust chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, 89, is uncertain as he is still in hospital with urinary tract infection and breathing difficulties.
Das, a prominent figure in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, has been facing age-related health issues in recent years, due to which he has been attending recent trust meetings virtually.
The SIT had submitted its preliminary report to Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Prasad in Lucknow on June 23. Two days later, an FIR was registered against eight persons involved in counting cash offerings and donations at the temple. Rai, Mishra and Rao were not named in the FIR.
Meanwhile, police took jailed accused Avinash Shukla into custody on a 24-hour remand for further questioning.
Shukla was associated with counting offerings at the Ram temple.
Amid these developments, the head of a temple located adjacent to the Ram Mandir complex levelled serious allegations against Rai, claiming that “he and his gang” illegally grabbed control of the shrine through forged documents and that his complaints had been ignored by the authorities.
The allegations were made by Hari Shankar Safariwala, who identified himself as the panchpramukh of the centuries-old Ram Niwas temple in Ramkot, during a press conference addressed by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Opposition parties stepped up their attack and demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also a Supreme Court-monitored probe.
The political firestorm notwithstanding, lawyers of the Faizabad Bar Association took out a protest march here and submitted a police complaint seeking an FIR against Rai, Mishra and temple official Gopal Rao.
Krishna Mohan, another trustee, who was the complainant in the first FIR in the case, has also been mentioned as an accused in the lawyers’ complaint to the police, according to Faizabad Bar Association president Kalika Prasad Mishra.
The lawyers marched from the court premises to the Ram Janambhoomi police station here before submitting the complaint, demanding that a case be registered and a fair and impartial probe be conducted into the allegations.
In Delhi, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal sought answers from Modi, claiming only “pawns” have been arrested and “powerful” persons are being protected.
He alleged that there was lot of corruption in the purchase of land and the construction of the temple as well as donations offered by devotees.
“The Ram Mandir Trust office bearers were handpicked by the prime minister himself. A home ministry officer is also part of the trust,” he said, questioning why the prime minister “did not act to stop the theft”.
The Congress said it would launch a campaign against the alleged “looting” of donations, adding those who spoke of ‘Ram Rajya’ have embezzled Ram temple offerings.
Party general secretary K C Venugopal wrote to Modi, demanding an immediate Supreme Court-monitored investigation into what he termed as the “Chanda Chori mega scandal”.
Akhilesh Yadav claimed that word about the “theft” of donations has reached villages across Uttar Pradesh and the BJP would face public backlash over the issue.
“This time the BJP will get neither donations, nor offerings, nor votes,” he told reporters in Lucknow.
CPI MP P Sandosh wrote to Modi seeking a CAG audit of the donations and a judicial inquiry into alleged irregularities, accusing the RSS, VHP and BJP of turning Lord Ram into a political project and betraying the faith of millions of devotees.
The political firestorm notwithstanding, lawyers of the Faizabad Bar Association took out a protest march here and submitted a police complaint seeking an FIR against Rai, Mishra and temple official Gopal Rao.
Krishna Mohan, another trustee, who was the complainant in the first FIR in the case, has also been mentioned as an accused in the lawyers’ complaint to the police, according to Faizabad Bar Association president Kalika Prasad Mishra.
The lawyers marched from the court premises to the Ram Janambhoomi police station here before submitting the complaint, demanding that a case be registered and a fair and impartial probe be conducted into the allegations.
Official and police sources said the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has served a notice to the wife of Ram temple donation theft accused Lavkush Mishra over the alleged unauthorised construction of a house under her name.
According to ADA sources, the house under construction is located in Banvirpur village in Sohawal tehsil. The land was purchased in the name of Mishra’s wife, Supriya Mishra, and the construction was undertaken without obtaining the mandatory approval from the development authority.
Police sources said cash recoveries made during the investigation include Rs 20.39 lakh from Avinash Shukla, Rs 18.07 lakh from Karunesh Pandey, Rs 16.82 lakh from Anukalp Mishra, Rs 14.25 lakh from Lavkush Mishra, Rs 7.32 lakh from Ramashankar Mishra and Rs 1 lakh from Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu.
The police have also recovered around 11 grams of gold, about 375 grams of silver and USD 1,121 during the investigation.
Investigators have seized a donation box labelled “Ramrajya Kosh” bearing a Paytm QR code from a yoga centre in Ayodhya where Avinash Shukla had been staying for nearly a decade, the police sources said.
The alleged embezzlement of Ram temple donations came to light on June 7. Later, an FIR was registered on June 25 following a preliminary report by the SIT, which was constituted by the UP government.
Eight persons associated with the temple’s donation and counting process have been arrested in the case, and the investigation is continuing.
