&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Who is Champat Rai, a VHP veteran, Ram Mandir trust chief who resigned in donation theft case?")
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and Trust member Anil Mishra resigned from their positions on Friday amid an ongoing probe into the alleged misappropriation of donations collected at the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. This comes a day after eight people were arrested following an FIR linked to the alleged embezzlement of temple donations.
The alleged misappropriation of donations was first reported by former Samajwadi Party MLA from Ayodhya, Pawan Pandey, who claimed that donations worth Rs 7 crore to Rs 7.5 crore had been siphoned off from the Ram Mandir.
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Soon an investigation was launched by the Uttar Pradesh government and a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on June 14 at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
An FIR was registered after the findings and suggestions in the preliminary report of the SIT.
Who is Champat Rai?
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So, who is Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust General Secretary Champat Rai, responsible for overseeing the temple funds?
Rai has been among the key faces associated with the Ram temple movement. Born in 1946 in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor, he was a Chemistry teacher at the RSM Degree College in Bijnor but later quit his job to join the Ram temple movement.
Rai was associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement since the construction phase of the temple. He played an important role in temple organisational work, trust administration and public communication.
Later, Rai was made General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra constituted in 2020 to oversee the construction and management of the Ram temple in Ayodhya after the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya dispute.
He was also associated with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and served as a senior office-bearer within the organisation.
