The SIT questioned former officer Rajendra Chauhan in the Badrinath donation theft case after CCTV allegedly showed him taking cash. The team has received an 18-page internal report from the temple committee and identified more suspects from footage.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday questioned former temple officer Rajendra Chauhan in connection with the alleged donation theft case at the Badrinath temple. Chauhan is one of the key suspects in the case and is being questioned on the basis of CCTV footage collected during the investigation. The CCTV footage allegedly shows Chauhan collecting cash bundles and keeping them in his pocket 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 probe into the alleged theft of donation money from the Badrinath temple.
SIT Receives Report, Identifies More Suspects
The step comes after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath Temple has received the 18-page internal inquiry report prepared by the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), while fresh CCTV footage has led SIT to identify more suspects in the case, said Uttarakhand Police on Thursday. According to Uttarakhand Police, the BKTC has handed over its 18-page internal inquiry report to the SIT as part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged theft of temple donations.
Police said the SIT has also identified more suspects after examining CCTV footage recorded on June 25 and June 29. Based on the footage, officials are set to question additional people in connection with the case.”More suspects are seen in the CCTV footage of June 25 and June 29, based on which the SIT will question more people in the case,” police added.
The SIT has fully recovered CCTV footage from June 29 and July 2, which will be examined today as part of the investigation, police said. Earlier, the SIT had recovered CCTV footage from June 22 and June 25, which has already been analysed as part of the probe. The investigation into the alleged theft of donations from the Badrinath Temple is underway, with the SIT continuing to scrutinise CCTV footage and gather evidence to identify those involved.
Oversight Gaps Probed
On July 14, a committee constituted to examine the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath Temple visited Badrinath Dham and reviewed the process of how donations are handled and transported and arrangements within the counting room.
Meanwhile, SIT probing the Badrinath donation theft case questioned the Temple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sohan Singh Rangad and his Personal Assistant, Atul Dimri, to probe gaps in oversight. Simultaneously, investigators embedded themselves in the temple’s CCTV control room, systematically reviewing operational logs and tracking how daily donations were handled. (ANI)
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