Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 7: The former general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai is learnt to have shifted all the blames for the Ram temple donation fund theft on the Ayodhya branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) accusing it of security lapses and violating the terms of its contract with the Trust.
The bank was responsible for counting the donation money in the Ram Temple.
Mr Rai is learnt to have levelled the accusations in a written response he submitted before the Trust members when it met in Ayodhya on Monday to take a decision on his and other Trust member Anil Mishra’s resignations and other issues. Mr Rai earlier had also appeared before the Uttar Pradesh government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into the donation fund theft case and levelled similar charges against the bank.
In his statement before the SIT, Mr Rai has reportedly said the Trust had taken all the security measures as per the contract with the bank but the bank on its part permitted laxity leading to the fund embezzlement. “As per the MoU, all security measures were taken — like CCTV cameras were installed in the counting room and a door with iron bars was installed on it. The bank advised that counting should be done by sitting on chairs and keeping the money on a table, which helped in the theft,” he wrote in his statement to the SIT.
He said joint guidelines on the counting of donation money had been issued in February 2025, which were allegedly ignored by the bank. Rai alleged that the counting members were allowed by the bank to wear clothes with pockets, and no frisking was carried out at entry and exit points.
“All the banks in the country must have some rules for the chest room. The rules of the State Bank of India must be strict. Special searches while entering and exiting the counting room, clothes without pockets… In the temple’s case, the bank did not follow this, despite it being written in the guidelines. The clothes provided by the bank had pockets,” he claimed.
He alleged laxity on the part of the bank in implementing security measures. “Senior officials of the bank need to explain how laxity was allowed in following the rules of the chest room,” he added.
He said security rules were ignored by the SBI. “Perhaps the higher officials of the bank didn’t have any knowledge of this guideline letter; otherwise, the mistake would have been caught at some level,” he said. He also claimed that the guidelines were written in haste, and he wasn’t a signatory to them.
“The letter with guidelines was written in a hurry, and the bank did not follow it. The workers selected by the bank for counting were kept as housekeeping staff. Is this appropriate?” he asked. Champat Rai said the guidelines were signed by the trustee, Dr Anil Mishra, and the Chief Manager of the State Bank of India, Ayodhya branch, Govind Mishra. “Why was my signature not taken on this letter? If I was not in Ayodhya, then they should have waited,” he added.
Eight people involved with the counting process, including some of his close associates and his former driver, have been arrested for allegedly stealing the Ram Temple donation money. Many were allegedly found living lavishly, disproportionate to their legal incomes.
The preliminary SIT probe found approximately 70 instances of counting personnel concealing bundles of notes and loose cash in their clothes and otherwise. The probe team has found that the crime took place because prescribed security measures were not effectively implemented.