A new news has emerged amid allegations of major irregularities in the offerings and valuables of devotees in the Ram temple of Ayodhya. 60 kg silver bricks are said to be missing from the donation records of the temple.
Lucknow: A shocking news has come amid allegations of major irregularities in the offerings and valuables of devotees in the Ram temple of Ayodhya. According to reports, 60 kg of silver bricks have gone missing from the donation records of the temple. These silver bricks were offered to Ramlala during the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony and were to be used in the foundation stone laying of the temple. For the last six days, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been investigating these silver bricks and the documents related to them, but till now no concrete information has been received as to where these bricks are or what happened to them.
These 60 kg silver bricks were made by the Jewelers Association by collecting donations from gold and silver traders across the country. Jewelers Association President Anurag Rastogi has clarified that he has the receipt to hand over these bricks to ‘Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’. He also said that these silver bricks were not seen during the foundation stone laying ceremony or the subsequent construction works and later went missing.
As part of the investigation, the SIT team has interrogated Ramshankar Yadav, Krishnadev Tiwari and four priests. Krishnadev Tiwari, in-charge of jewelery and offerings at the temple, has said in his statement that he has no information about the missing silver bricks or a necklace that came under investigation. The case is being investigated by a three-member SIT, which includes Lucknow Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, IG Kiran S and Special Secretary Neil Ratan Kumar. The team is closely examining the entire process of collecting, storing and recording the offerings. Apart from this, Dr. Anil Mishra of Ram Mandir Trust, who is overseeing the donation, has also been questioned by the police.
The main allegation is that gold, silver and diamond jewelery offered by devotees at the temple was replaced with fake jewelery and cash donations were diverted elsewhere. This matter gained political momentum when on June 7, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, citing media reports, alleged that donations worth crores of rupees were missing and sought intervention from the court. Subsequently, on the request of the temple trust, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a three-member SIT on June 13.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who recently visited Ayodhya, supported the SIT investigation. He said that the investigation has been started on the demand of the Trust and the truth will come out. He also appealed that the devotees who waited 500 years for the temple can give 15 more days to the SIT to complete the investigation, and not defame Ayodhya before that.