Ram Temple Trust prepones key meeting to July 6 as Champat Rai’s future hangs in balance after donation theft row
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Ram Temple Trust prepones key meeting to July 6 as Champat Rai’s future hangs in balance after donation theft row")
The Trust has asked all its 14 members to remain available for the July 6 meeting. Photograph: (X)
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra submitted their resignations on June 26 while taking moral responsibility after an FIR was registered in the case naming eight accused and several unidentified people.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has preponed its crucial executive committee meeting from July 11 to July 6 and is most likely to decide the fate of trust general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra, who have handed over their resignations after the Ram Temple donation misappropriation case came to light.
The Trust, headed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the 87-year-old saint from Ayodhya, has asked all its 14 members to remain available for the July 6 meeting.
The development follows the questioning of Champat Rai by the investigating officer on Monday.
During the interrogation, Rai is reported to have denied any wrongdoing and said he was unaware of several aspects of the alleged irregularities. On matters related to the Trust’s internal functioning, he reportedly referred investigators to other members.
Police also recorded the statement of Trust member Krishna Mohan, who is also the complainant in the case.
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‘Several important matters required immediate discussion’
In a communication sent to members, the trust’s treasurer Govind Dev Giri said the meeting had been advanced because several important matters required immediate discussion.
The opposition leaders are targeting the BJP, RSS and the temple trust over the alleged embezzlement of donations worth several lakhs of rupees, though the investigators have not yet shared any figures so far. The donation theft has shaken the faith of devotees.
The key issues that may be discussed in the meeting include the likely reorganisation of its day-to-day functioning and strengthening oversight mechanisms to improve transparency.
The Trust may also dwell upon adding more layers in its administrative structure after concerns were raised over the way of functioning as a handful of trust office-bearers were running the show with complete authority over all the internal matters and no record or documents were shared with others.
The Trust’s last meeting was held on March 21, when preparations for Ram Navami celebrations were discussed. Meetings of the trust are held every three months.
On June 27, Govind Dev Giri had confirmed that both Champat Rai and Anil Mishra had submitted their resignations.
Rai and Mishra submitted their resignations on June 26 while taking moral responsibility after an FIR was registered in the case naming eight accused and several unidentified people.
SIT widens its probe, looking into land purchases
The meeting comes even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the donation theft and is examining the role of trust office-bearers, banking officials and digital transactions linked to temple donations.
After the arrest of eight accused, the SIT is also scrutinising office-bearers of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and officials of the State Bank of India associated with temple accounts besides examining the role of temple employees.
The SIT is also looking into the land purchases made by the Trust and procurement of construction materials.
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Bank accounts, digital trail being scrutinised
The investigation has brought the Bank of Baroda’s Ayodhya branch under scrutiny after police served it a notice seeking account details linked to the case.
The bank clarified that its role is limited to facilitating online QR-based donations and that it has no involvement in collecting, counting or managing physical offerings made at the Ram Temple.
The investigators are also analysing UPI transactions, expenditure patterns and fund movements to determine whether digital payment records reveal any suspicious financial activity.
