Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 27: Questions have been raised about the integrity of the now former general secretary of the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai in connection with the alleged embezzlement of the donation fund of the Ayodhya temple.
The role of Mr Rai, who on Friday resigned as the general secretary along with another influential trustee Anil Mishra, has come under intense scrutiny with the Uttar Pradesh government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating the donation theft, raising serious questions on a deliberate oversight to previous ignoring complaints.
Sources said as per the SIT report, prepared on the basis of examination of the CCTV footage recorded between April 27 and June 5, allegedly found that employees involved in counting temple donations were seen stealing cash on nearly 70 occasions over a span of 40 days.
Sources said the report claims that all those 8 persons arrested in the case had been assigned to the donation counting process on the recommendation of Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. It also alleged that Anil Mishra facilitated the appointment of several close associates without adequate background verification.
Even though Champat Rai did not directly handled the surveillance and donation-counting operations at the temple and he instead delegated to other officials for the job, almost all of those assigned the donation counting job were his close associates and authorised by him or Dr Mishra for the responsible job.
He is also alleged to have ignored complaints related to donation theft, despite being made aware of several such incidents. Those involved in the alleged theft are claimed to be close aides of his, as well as individuals appointed to temple roles on his recommendation. It is further alleged that despite earlier instances of cash recovery, he did not approach the police in connection with the matter.
Of the eight people arrested in connection with the case, only Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastava were employees of the Ram Mandir Trust, while the remaining accused were reportedly on the payroll of the State Bank of India (SBI), which assists with the counting of donations. The appointments by the bank was reportedly made at the recommendation of Mr Champat Rai or Dr Mishra.
Sources further claimed that questions have also been raised regarding the increase in Anil Mishra’s assets after he became a trustee, though no official findings have been announced on this aspect.
According to sources, Ram Shankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, is alleged to have played the central role in the theft. The SIT report reportedly states that he possessed the keys to the boxes where donations were stored and exercised considerable influence over the temple’s administrative operations, including deciding who would be employed, selecting personnel for donation counting, and even determining the deployment of police personnel within the temple premises. Tinnu Yadav was formerly driver of Champat Rai and was appointed in the temple administration by the former general secretary and drew all his powers from him.
Another key accused, Ramashankar Mishra, was allegedly recruited on Tinnu Yadav’s recommendation. Initially assigned to the temple’s facilitation centre, he later became involved in counting donations. The SIT report reportedly states that CCTV footage captured him stealing cash from the donations on multiple occasions.
According to the SIT, all eight accused, including Tinnu Yadav, Manish Yadav, Lav Kush Mishra and Anukalp Mishra—were aware of the locations of the CCTV cameras inside the counting centre as well as the blind spots. The report alleges that the accused sometimes switched off cameras or obstructed their view while cash was being pocketed. But they were not aware about the location of a hidden surveillance camera installed inside the counting room.
It was footage from this concealed camera, according to the SIT, that ultimately exposed the alleged theft and formed a crucial part of the investigation. Both Champat Rai and Dr Mishra are still silent over the allegations of theft levelled against the donation counting team.
Meanwhile, the Hanuman Garhi temple priest Mahant Raju Das has hit out at the former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya over his controversial remarks on the temple theft demanding action against him.
Speaking on the alleged donation theft, Maurya had reportedly questioned how Lord Ram could protect others if he could not protect his own temple.
“The robbers looted crores of rupees. There was theft in the temple and the shrine. They also stole silver and gold. But if Lord Ram could not punish those thieves, how can he protect you? If he cannot protect his own temple, how can he protect you?” he had reportedly said.
Das said every person involved in the alleged theft would eventually be arrested and appealed to people to not politicse the issue. He added that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that the truth would emerge through an impartial investigation. “CM Yogi Adityanath had said we should all have some patience and everything will be clear… Eight people have been arrested, and I feel that even others who were involved in this will all be arrested,” he said and challenged Maurya to make such adverse comments about other religions.
“It is unfortunate that Sanatan and Hindutva are being targeted in the name of the Ram Temple… If Swami Prasad Maurya has guts, he should comment on Islam or any other religion. He comments on Sanatan because we are Hindus and do not do anything. Action should be taken against him,” he said.
