SIT has arrested former temple official Rajendra Chauhan in the Badrinath temple donation theft case. This action was taken on the basis of CCTV footage, in which he was allegedly seen keeping cash in his pocket. Investigation of the matter is ongoing.
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [भारत]July 17 (ANI): The investigation into the alleged case of theft of donations from Badrinath temple has gained momentum. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday arrested former temple official of Badrinath temple Rajendra Chauhan after four hours of interrogation. Chauhan will be produced in the court tomorrow, July 18, for further investigation. Chauhan is one of the prime suspects in the case and is being interrogated on the basis of CCTV footage found during the investigation.
CCTV footage allegedly showed Chauhan picking up bundles of cash and keeping them in his pockets on June 22, June 25 and June 29, following which the SIT summoned him for questioning. The SIT is examining the footage and other evidence as part of its investigation into the alleged theft of donation money from the Badrinath temple.
SIT received investigation report, new suspects identified
Uttarakhand Police on Thursday said the move was taken after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath temple got access to an 18-page internal investigation report prepared by the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), while new CCTV footage has helped the SIT identify more suspects in the case. According to Uttarakhand Police, BKTC has submitted its 18-page internal investigation report to the SIT as part of the ongoing investigation into alleged theft of temple donations.
Police had earlier said that the SIT had completely recovered the CCTV footage of June 29 and July 2, which was to be investigated. The SIT had also recovered CCTV footage of June 22 and June 25, which have already been analyzed as part of the investigation. On July 14, a committee formed to investigate the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath temple visited Badrinath Dham and reviewed the process of handling and transporting donations and the arrangements within the counting room.
Investigation into lapses in monitoring, CEO and PA also interrogated
Meanwhile, the SIT probing the Badrinath donation theft case questioned the temple’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sohan Singh Rangad and his personal assistant Atul Dimri to probe the lapses in surveillance. Also, the investigators sat in the CCTV control room of the temple and systematically reviewed the operational logs and found out how the daily donations were handled. (ANI)
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