The Special Investigation Team probing the alleged donation theft at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has given a clean chit to the Trust’s former general secretary, Champat Rai.
The Uttar Pradesh Home Department on Monday handed over the SIT’s final report in the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft case to the Trust for action.
The Uttar Pradesh Home Department on Monday handed over the Special Investigation Team’s final report in the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft case to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for further action. The FIR named eight people – Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu – and other unidentified individuals as accused. The preliminary report had also formed the basis for subsequent FIRs and arrest-related action in the case.
The three-member SIT, headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, was constituted by the state government on June 13 at the request of the Trust, before the Supreme Court intervened in the matter. Based on the preliminary report, Trust member Krishnamohan filed a written complaint at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station, following which an FIR was registered in the case on June 25. All of them have been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
During interrogation, Champat Rai denied any role in the donation theft at the temple, adding that it was on his complaint that the suspects were arrested, according to sources. Rai, according to sources, also told the police that it was his responsibility to ensure that no irregularities occurred in donation collection and that he acted as soon as he got wind of the wrongdoing.
