Ram Temple Trust advances key meeting as Champat Rai's future hangs in balance
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has advanced a crucial executive committee meeting to July 6, with the spotlight firmly on general secretary Champat
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has advanced a crucial executive committee meeting to July 6, with the spotlight firmly on general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra, whose resignations and role in the alleged Ram Temple donation misappropriation case are expected to come up for discussion. The meeting comes at a time when the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has widened its probe beyond the eight people arrested in the alleged donation theft case, examining the role of Trust office-bearers, banking officials and digital transactions linked to temple donations. Read Full Story According to sources, the executive committee is expected to hear the versions of Rai and Mishra before taking any decision, following the same practice it adopted during previous controversies, including the Ram Temple land dispute. RESIGNATIONS UNDER LENS The July 6 meeting will be the first executive committee meeting since the donation controversy erupted earlier this month. On June 26, Rai and Mishra submitted their resignations, taking moral responsibility after an FIR was registered in the case naming eight accused and several unidentified people. Sources said the committee is likely to deliberate on whether the resignations should be accepted after hearing from both leaders. The development follows the questioning of Rai by the investigating officer on Monday.
During the interrogation, Rai is learnt to have denied any wrongdoing and said he was unaware of several aspects of the alleged irregularities. On matters related to the Trust's internal functioning, he reportedly referred investigators to other members. Police later recorded the statement of Trust member Krishna Mohan, who is also the complainant in the case. BANK ACCOUNTS, DIGITAL TRAIL UNDER SCRUTINY The investigation has also brought the Bank of Baroda's Ayodhya branch under scrutiny after police served it a notice seeking account details linked to the case. The bank clarified that its role is limited to facilitating online QR-based donations and that it has no involvement in collecting, counting or managing physical offerings made at the Ram Temple. It also said around 10 to 15 per cent of the Trust's donations are routed through Bank of Baroda and Punjab Bank, while the State Bank of India remains the primary banking channel. Sources said Rai maintains an account at the Ayodhya branch that was transferred from Delhi several years ago and now carries only a minimal balance. Mishra also has an account there and had recently availed a loan of around Rs 20 lakh to purchase an electric vehicle. Police sought details of accounts belonging to the accused Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav and Supriya Mishra.
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