The interim general secretary of the Ram temple trust reviewed gold, silver and other precious metals worth crores of rupees, along with related records, kept in a bank locker in Ayodhya, temple sources said on Tuesday.
The exercise came as records of the trust’s funds and valuables were being verified following the Ram temple offering theft case.
According to the sources, interim general secretary Krishna Mohan visited the State Bank of India branch in Ayodhya on Monday evening and remained there till late at night.
During the visit, an inventory of the valuables was prepared and photographs were taken of the gold, silver and other precious metal items kept in the bank locker.
The sources said Krishna Mohan had spent the past three days checking the trust’s account ledgers and other records. After this, a final inventory of funds and precious metals was prepared.
They added that the newly constituted Special Investigation Team, formed on the directions of the Supreme Court in connection with the Ram temple offering theft case, is expected to resume work on Tuesday. Krishna Mohan did not respond to media queries about his visit to the bank.
Asked about the arrangements at the Ram temple, he said, “Please come, all of you, have darshan and see for yourselves. If there is any shortcoming, then tell us.”
The embezzlement of Ram temple donations came to light in the first week of June. The Uttar Pradesh government then constituted a Special Investigation Team on June 13 and initially gave it 15 days to investigate the allegations.
After the preliminary SIT report was submitted on June 23, an FIR was registered on June 25, and eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested.
In summary, the trust’s interim general secretary has reviewed the valuables and records kept in a bank locker as scrutiny of the temple’s funds continues, while the SIT is expected to resume its investigation into the embezzlement case.
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