Mahant Dharam Das of the Nirvani Akhada accused the Trust of “betraying” people and Ram devotees “by committing fraud” while purchasing land.
Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is in charge of the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, has been accused by Mahant Dharam Das of the Nirvani Akhada of “betraying” people and Ram devotees “by committing fraud” while purchasing land for the temple, and alleged that donations had been misused. The mahant on Wednesday demanded that religious leaders in Ayodhya be given the responsibility of running the shrine.
The complaint was submitted by the Mahant at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station on Tuesday. The Mahant, in his complaint, has named all of the Trust’s members and office-bearers, including general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra, Ayodhya mayor’s nephew Deep Narayan, Rajkumar Das of Ram Ballabhakunj, and sub-registrar SB Singh.
They have received the a complaint but are yet to register an FIR, the police said.
The Trust, after the similar allegations were raised by opposition parties, had said on July 2 that no evidence of irregularities had been found by a “team of experts who scrutinised all the documents related to the land deals”. Govind Dev Giri, the treasurer of the Trust, told reporters that they would not get into any “media trial”, and added that all the documents related to the land purchases “show full transparency and honesty”.
Mahant Dharam Das, in the past, has also labelled the formation of the Trust as “illegal”. In his complaint, he alleged that the funds collected for the construction of the temple had been misused, and demanded the immediate sacking of Champat Rai. On Wednesday, he said that responsibility of running the shrine should be given to the Hindu saints in Ayodhya.
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