Ram Mandir Trust member, general secretary resign amid donation controversy
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and Trust member Anil Mishra have stepped down from their positions days after the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Ram Temple triggered a nationwide controversy, according to credible sources.
Sources in the Uttar Pradesh government said both senior Trust members resigned from their posts on moral grounds. Their exit comes amid growing scrutiny over the alleged irregularities in donations and offerings made by devotees at the Ram Temple.
The controversy erupted after reports claimed that offerings and valuables worth hundreds of crores were allegedly misappropriated by temple staff in connivance with bank officials. The temple trust is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day functioning of the shrine, including the management of chadhava (offerings) made to Lord Ram.
The resignations are being seen as a major development in the ongoing case, especially after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) submitted its preliminary findings, which reportedly pointed to lapses in the handling of temple donations. The findings also intensified demands for action against those responsible.
On Thursday night, an FIR was registered against eight people, including temple attendants, counting staff and former bank officials, for allegedly working together to siphon off temple funds. All eight accused were arrested following the registration of the case.
Those arrested have been identified as Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.
However, the FIR did little to calm the controversy. Questions were raised over why only lower-level employees were named, while senior officials allegedly escaped accountability.
Earlier, on June 14, the Uttar Pradesh government had constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged irregularities in temple donations after a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Trust.
