The case of theft of Ram temple offerings is currently a topic of discussion across the country. After the meeting and press conference of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, now a letter from former general secretary of the trust Champat Rai has also created a new controversy. The trust was already under question, but now even the trustees seem to lack trust in each other. Champat Rai, the most influential face of the Trust, who was silent till now, has now expressed his feelings through a letter. A month after the uproar over theft of offerings, this is the first time that Champat Rai has expressed his views by writing a few lines. In this he is hinting at a conspiracy. In a way, this can also be a warning as to what they are going to do or can do in the future. However, he has resigned from the trust.
While sharing the letter on social media, Champat Rai wrote that many discussions are taking place across the country regarding theft of offerings in Ram temple and many allegations have also been made against him. He said that for the time being he has decided to remain silent, but will give his answer on all the points after the final report of the SIT comes. Along with this, he also expressed surprise that the initial report of the SIT was confidential, but it became public. In fact, in the initial investigation report of SIT, many things related to theft, negligence in security and financial management have come to light.
Champat Rai sent his reply to SIT
Apart from the letter, Champat Rai has also sent his reply to the SIT, in which he has made serious allegations against Anil Mishra, who was a member of the trust. Champat Rai has said in his statement that an MoU was signed between Anil Mishra and SBI on 6 February 2025 for offering counting, the approval of which was not taken from him. Referring to the MoU in his statement, he said that changes took place in the counting room. He has asked how there was laxity in the rules. My view is that similar rules should have been implemented here as in banks, but they were completely disregarded.
Trustee Mahant Dinendra Das Maharaj’s big claim
Mahant Dinendra Das Maharaj, trustee of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has made a big claim on TV9 Bharatvarsha. He said that ‘the copy of Champat Rai’s resignation was not shown in the meeting. During the conversation people said that resignation has been given. I had refused to accept Champat Rai’s resignation, then all the members said that he has resigned so it should be accepted, then we agreed. Gopal Rao and Anil Mishra used to do transactions.
In this matter, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesperson Surendra Jain said, ‘The Trust had also said that if anyone has any evidence, then they should go to the investigating officer and present the facts. Do not try to hurt the trust of the society. At the same time, Trust Treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri also admitted that there were shortcomings in the system and it was a mistake to trust the wrong people. However, he said that all the truth will come out only after the investigation is completed.
SIT report cleared the confusion
Till now there was only speculation as to how much theft had taken place, but for the first time this confusion was cleared in the SIT report. According to SIT, Rs 78.94 lakh has been recovered from the accused. The seized offerings also included foreign currency, jewelery and valuables. The preliminary report of the SIT is of a total of 9 pages, in pages number 4, 5, 6 and 8, information about the offering thieves and the methods of theft is given.
What is written on page number 4 of the report?
CCTV video has been found from April 27 to June 5, in which theft incidents were recorded 70 times. In this some employees are seen stealing. It is seen that bundles of notes were hidden in clothes. Not only this, the accused had also taken away the notes hidden in their shoes. The special thing is that Avinash Shukla and Manish Yadav also committed theft many times and Anukalp, Luvkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey used to help in this theft. In this video, Ramashankar Mishra is also seen hiding the bundles.
What is written on page number 5 of the report?
- There was no search while going out
- Dress code without pockets also not implemented
- Donation boxes were not counted separately
- The money from all the donations was combined at one place
- Receipt-certificate of the value of donation was not made.
- There was negligence in CCTV monitoring of the counting room.
How was the stolen money being hidden?
- The thieves deposited cash in the bank
- The accused also got FD deposited in their respective accounts.
- Cash was deposited in the bank accounts of relatives
- House and land were purchased with the money donated
Question on SOP made for counting donations
An SOP has also been made for the Ram Mandir donation counting process. It was stated in the SIT report that this was not followed. According to the SOP, it is the responsibility of the Trust to monitor the counting process, so that transparency and authenticity are maintained. It is also the responsibility of the Trust to confirm the transactions by signing cash deposit slips, challans, registers and other records. Apart from this, it is also the responsibility of the Trust to provide the right working environment and facilities for the counting employees.
There are also some joint responsibilities of the bank and the trust, according to which the donation box should be opened every day only in the joint presence of the designated officers. There should be regular recording of opening of donation box and the entire process, so that accountability is ensured. Apart from this, the counting room should also be opened and operated on time under joint responsibility. No person will enter the counting room without uniform and wearing gold and silver jewellery. Regular frisking is mandatory while entering and leaving the counting room. Every detail will be written in the guest register. However, these rules were not followed.
Political rhetoric intensifies on donation theft
Apart from the SIT report and clarification on the allegations, there was also a lot of politics on this matter. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, while sarcastically writing on social media, said that due to the revelation of theft of offerings, donations and donations, the politics of both religion and money of BJP has come to an end. BJP no longer belongs anywhere. At the same time, Congress also demonstrated in Lucknow on theft of offerings. UP Congress has started ‘Sadbhudhi Padyatra’. Apart from this, Congress also started ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram Movement’ in Maharashtra and in Nashik, the party’s state president Harshvardhan Sapkal asked questions to the BJP government.
CM Yogi’s strong attack on opposition
CM Yogi has also strongly attacked the opposition’s allegations in this matter. He said that ‘SIT has turned milk into water. When Ram and Krishna were described as imaginary, the faith of Hindus was not hurt. SP and Congress are silent on the loot of Waqf… their pain is that where they wanted to see the slavery structure of Babri, there is a grand Ram temple, their pain is not faith.
TV9 Bureau Report
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