Ram Temple Donation Case: SIT Chargesheet Raises Questions
Exclusion of bank employees and senior trust functionaries from the accused list draws scrutiny over alleged donation-counting lapses
- SIT chargesheet names eight arrested accused in the case.
- Bank employees reportedly examined during the probe are not accused.
- Former trust office-bearers Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao are also not named.
- Questions remain over accountability for alleged donation-counting and deposit lapses.
GG News Bureau
Ayodhya, 26th Sept: The Ayodhya Ram temple donation case has taken a new turn after questions were raised over the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) chargesheet and its decision not to name bank employees or former office-bearers of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust as accused.
The chargesheet names the eight arrested accused—Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Luvkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastav and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav. All eight had also been named in the FIR lodged by the trust.
However, bank employees whose roles had reportedly come under scrutiny during the initial SIT investigation have not been made accused in the chargesheet.
According to sources in the Ayodhya police, bank employees had defined responsibilities in the donation process, including counting donations at the temple and depositing the collections in banks. The initial investigation had reportedly flagged shortcomings in the counting process and the duties assigned to bank officials.
The roles of at least two bank employees were subsequently examined, but neither has been named as an accused.
The initial probe also indicated that bank officials were to be assigned duties on a rotational basis alongside employees involved in counting donations. They were reportedly responsible for ensuring that counting staff wore the prescribed uniforms. Sources said the prescribed system was allegedly not followed.
The chargesheet has also not named trust functionaries Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao, whose roles had reportedly come under scrutiny during the investigation. Rai and Mishra have since resigned as general secretary and trustee, respectively, of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
The exclusion of bank officials has raised questions over where responsibility was fixed for alleged lapses in the counting and depositing of temple donations.
Questions have also emerged over the extent to which the investigation examined the responsibilities of senior trust office-bearers.
