Ram Temple donation theft row: Vishva Hindu Parishad rejects reports claiming Champat Rai resigned
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Ram Temple donation theft row: Vishva Hindu Parishad rejects reports claiming Champat Rai resigned")
Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya Photograph: (ANI)
Vishva Hindu Parishad denied reports that Champat Rai resigned from the Ram Temple Trust amid the donation theft probe, saying it has no knowledge of any resignation despite growing speculation.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday (Jun 26) said that it had no knowledge that its vice president Champat Rai had resigned as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust amid controversy over donation fund theft. This comes after reports suggested that Rai has stepped down from his position, along with trust member Anil Mishra. The development follows the arrest of eight people named in an FIR linked to the alleged embezzlement of temple donations.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal’s said that the organisation did not receive any information regarding Rai’s resignation. “The VHP doesn’t have any knowledge of the resignation,” he told PTI.
An FIR was lodged by trust member Krishna Mohan, who alleged that embezzled donations were offered at the temple and misappropriated through criminal conspiracy. The case was registered under sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In the FIR, eight people were named, including Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Yadav, Rajesh Pathak, Ramashankar Yadav (Tinnu Yadav), Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Subhash Srivastava, and other unidentified persons. All eight were taken into police custody and were being questioned.
The investigation was launched after former SP MLA from Ayodhya, Pawan Pandey, alleged that donations worth Rs 7 crore to Rs 7.5 crore had been siphoned off from the Ram Mandir. Following the allegations, the Uttar Pradesh government set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 14 at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
The formal complaint was registered after the findings and suggestions in the preliminary report of the SIT.
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Earlier on Friday (Jun 26), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed the opposition, accusing them of attempting to derive political benefit from the issue.
