Ram Temple row: Security firm denies role, says it only supplied housekeeping staff
A private security agency whose recruits were deployed at the cash-handling unit linked to Ram temple donation management has denied any role in the alleged
A private security agency whose recruits were deployed at the cash-handling unit linked to Ram temple donation management has denied any role in the alleged embezzlement of offerings. The agency said it only provided staff to SBI for housekeeping duties and was not aware of the roles they were later assigned. The denial came as the probe continued into the alleged diversion of donations at the Ayodhya temple, in which six recruits of the agency are among the eight people arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Read Full Story Gaurav Singh, director of Sainik Security Services, said the company had only supplied personnel to the State Bank of India branch in Ayodhya at the bank's request and had no role in deciding the work assigned to them later.
He said the company had shared all information sought by investigators. "Our company has nothing to do with the alleged donation theft at the Ram temple. We recruited 22 people and sent them to the SBI branch in Ayodhya for housekeeping work. What work the bank assigned to them thereafter is not known to us," Singh told PTI on Wednesday. He said all 22 personnel were recruited on the instructions of the chief manager of the SBI's Ayodhya branch. "The chief manager of the SBI branch in Ayodhya had sent us the list of names and biodata of these 22 people. They were all earlier working with another agency," Singh said.
Singh also said his company does not take contracts for temples and had only provided manpower to the SBI branch. "We were engaged only to provide housekeeping staff to the SBI branch in Ayodhya. What duties these employees eventually performed and why they performed them is for the bank to explain," he said. The statement is significant because sources in the SBI had earlier told news agency PTI that the bank wanted to replace the outsourced cash-counting staff at the Ram temple around three months ago after suspecting irregularities in the handling of donations. However, they alleged that members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust did not allow the staff to be changed.
The alleged embezzlement came to light after an SIT set up by the Uttar Pradesh government submitted its preliminary findings, following which an FIR was registered on June 25. Eight accused were later arrested, and police said nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash, along with some foreign currency, has been recovered so far from six of them. The investigation is continuing, with the agency maintaining that it only supplied staff to the SBI branch and had no role in their later deployment. Ends
The BriefWire