Complaint filed against Ram temple trustees by seer
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Aug, 2021 10:47 AM
Ayodhya (UP), Aug 19 (IANS) Mahant Dharam Das, the seer of Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya, has filed a police complaint against Ram Mandir Trust secretary Champat Rai, all trustees, MLA Deep Narayan Upadhyay, Ayodhya mayor's nephew Rishikesh Upadhyay and sub-registrar of Faizabad tehsil for criminal conspiracy, fraud and misusing the funds donated by devotees of Lord Ram in buying Nazul land.
Dharam Das is the disciple of late Mahant Ram Abhiram Das, who had reportedly placed the idols inside the disputed structure on December 22 midnight in 1949.
Das, a prominent face of Ram Mandir Movement and one of the main litigants from Hindu side in the Ram Janmabhoomi title suit, lodged the complaint at Ram Janmabhoomi police station.
He has accused the members of temple trust of criminal conspiracy, fraud and misuse of funds donated for Ram temple construction. Das has also named Faizabad sub-registrar S.B. Singh as accused.
He told reporters, "The office of sub-registrar was not aware that 'Nazul' land was sold twice-how is this possible? Mahant Devendra Prasadacharya had sold this plot of 676 square metres to Deep Narayan, nephew of Ayodhya mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay, for Rs 20 lakh in February. Deep Narayan sold it to the trust for Rs 2.5 crore in May. The value of this land, as per DM circle rate, is approximately Rs 35 lakh."
He also named BJP MLA from Gosaiganj (Ayodhya) Indra Pratap Tiwari and trustee Anil Mishra for being witnesses in the deal.
He demanded sacking of Rai as secretary and handing over responsibilities of the trust to seers of Ayodhya.
"The government should not get involved in temple construction," said Das.
While none of the trustees were willing to comment on the development, Prakash Gupta, the in-charge of camp office, said, "If it is Nazul land, complaint should have been filed with Nazul officers, not police. We bought land and paid money--where is corruption in this?"
This task, he said, has become much more demanding than before because the political disputes and electoral battles were increasingly getting overlaced with religious overtones, symbols, myths and prejudices.
The heavy rain in the region on Monday also affected schoolchildren in the Morni area as they were seen crossing the swollen Ghaggar river on their way back from school with the help of a pipe.
A first-time air passenger was on Monday taken into custody for trying to open the exit door of an aircraft mistaking it for that of the lavatory, triggering panic among flyers on board.
At a time when policymakers are grappling on how to reduce inequalities, a wealth report on Tuesday said there has been a 34 per cent increase in the number of Indians having a networth of Rs 1,000 crore or more.
Three more militants were killed in an ongoing counter-infiltration operation at Tangdhar, taking the militant toll in the operation that began on Saturday to five.
