Ayodhya: Ayodhya police have recorded the statement of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai as part of the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, days after he offered to resign taking “moral responsibility” for the controversy, officials said on Tuesday.
A police official confirmed to PTI that Rai’s statement had been recorded but declined to disclose when, where or for how long the questioning lasted.
“Yes, his statements have been recorded,” the official said.
While the official refused to elaborate further, sources said Ayodhya Circle Officer Ashutosh Tiwari, who is heading the investigation, visited Rai’s Bharat Kuti residence at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya to record his statement.
According to the sources, the police sought details and documents relating to the alleged donation theft from Rai, who is believed to have become aware of the suspected fraud before it snowballed into a major political controversy.
Asked about media reports claiming Rai admitted that not lodging an FIR immediately after learning about the alleged theft was a mistake, another police official told PTI, “Sorry, can’t say anything on that. What transpired is confidential and can’t be shared.”
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The sources acknowledged that the temple trust had become aware of the alleged donation theft before June 7, when the issue first entered the public domain.
Some supporters of Rai, speaking on condition of anonymity, told PTI that he was “clean” and had acted promptly after learning about the alleged fraud.
However, they were unable to explain why the FIR against the accused was lodged only on June 25, several days after a viral video circulated on June 5 purportedly showed the recovery of a bag allegedly containing stolen donation money from the residence of accused Avinash Shukla.
The controversy first erupted June 7 after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple. Rai had then rejected the allegations, saying that “nothing noteworthy” had emerged during an internal audit of the donation management system.
Subsequently, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 13. Its preliminary report is believed to have found widespread violations of standard operating procedures governing the handling and counting of temple donations, including the absence of mandatory security checks, failure to preserve CCTV footage for the stipulated period and lapses in the custody of donation box keys.
Based on the preliminary findings submitted on June 23, an FIR was registered on June 25 and eight persons associated with the temple’s donation-counting process were arrested. The police have said nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash, besides some foreign currency, has been recovered from six of the accused so far.
One of those arrested, Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, is a former driver of Rai and, according to the SIT, was in possession of keys to several donation boxes. This was in violation of the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday questioned one of the arrested accused, Avinash Shukla, inside the district jail after obtaining permission from the court, the sources said.
They said Investigating Officer and Ayodhya Circle Officer Ashutosh Tiwari moved an application before the court seeking permission to interrogate Shukla in judicial custody.
After the court allowed the request, Tiwari visited the jail and questioned the accused in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Ram Janmabhoomi temple donations.
According to the sources, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust recovered Rs 20 lakh from Shukla on June 5.
Repeated calls made by PTI to Rai for his comments on the developments went unanswered.
The alleged embezzlement has since developed into a major political controversy, with opposition parties demanding accountability and the probe continuing to examine the extent of the fraud and the sequence of events leading to the registration of the FIR.
