Aspecial investigation team (SIT) of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli police has sought the donation record of the last three years from the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) in connection with the alleged Badrinath Dham donation theft case, officials said.
They added that they are also looking into the possible involvement of more people beyond the two accused arrested so far.
Badrinath station house officer (SHO) Mahadev Uniyal said, “As our investigation proceeds, we have asked the BKTC to provide us the donation record of the last three years.”
He said, “We arrested the two accused after concrete evidence was found against them. We suspect that more people may be involved in the theft. It will take time to gather evidence against them. The investigation is still at an early stage.”
The SIT on Friday arrested retired BKTC temple officer Rajendra Chauhan for allegedly stealing the cash from the counting room on three occasions before his retirement on June 30. The police also recovered foreign currency, and other assets during a raid at the accommodation allotted to Chauhan at Badrinath temple.
“We recovered foreign currency, saffron and other materials like ghee from the room allotted to the accused as temple officer at the Badrinath Dham,” said Uniyal.
On Saturday, Chauhan was produced before a sessions court in Chamoli from where he was sent to 14-day judicial custody.
Earlier, suspended personal assistant to the chairman’s office Pramod Nautiyal was arrested from his home in Dehradun. Uniyal had said last week that Nautiyal was allegedly not cooperating with investigators. The police have so far not recovered any stolen cash, gold and silver coins, except for a Shaligram stone, from Nautiyal.
The alleged donation theft is being investigated on multiple fronts. A four-member internal committee constituted by the BKTC has submitted its preliminary report to the committee chairman. Separately, a police SIT is probing the case, while a high-level committee constituted by the Uttarakhand government is conducting an independent inquiry.