Ending speculation amid the Ram temple donation row, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Saturday confirmed the resignations of Trust general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra, marking a key turn in the controversy being probed by an Uttar Pradesh government-constituted Special Investigation Team.
The Trust also sought to reassure devotees, saying that all donated silver bricks, ornaments and other offerings made to the Ram Mandir were safe and properly documented.
In the first statement since the speculation over the resignations began on Friday, Swami Govind Dev Giri, treasurer of the Trust, said, “Resignations have been received from Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Shri Champat Rai Ji and Trustee Shri Anil Mishra Ji. The Trust will consider this in its upcoming meeting.” The Trust posted the statement on its X handle.
Although the Trust did not specify when the meeting would be held, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) said it was scheduled for July 7.
“It is true that they [Rai and Mishra] submitted their resignations to the president and the treasurer of the trust, taking moral responsibility for the Ram Temple donation row. The trust will address the issue at its July 7 meeting,” VHP chief Alok Kumar said. Rai is also the vice-president of the VHP.
“The Trust reassures those bhakts who have personally handed over silver bricks, jewellery, etc. to Trust officials for offering in the service of Prabhu Shri Ram — those items are safe and available with proper accounting,” Giri’s statement further said.
The statement added, “We are shocked, hurt, and deeply saddened by the incidents reported over the past few days regarding the Shri Ram Mandir (Ayodhya). We are committed to ensuring a fair investigation and reassuring the devotees.”
“We assure everyone that we will take measures to prevent any such unfortunate situation from arising in the future,” the statement said.
Appealing to devotees and the public, the Trust urged people not to be influenced by rumours or misinformation, and clarified that no damage had been caused to the sanctity of the temple.
“We assure everyone that no irreparable damage has occurred to the sanctity of the temple. We request all devotees not to be misled by rumours, misinformation, or false propaganda. Such attempts cannot shake Sanatan Dharma, the temple, or the faith of millions of devotees,” the statement said.
The Trust further expressed confidence that the truth would prevail, stating, “Darkness will eventually give way, and the light of truth will shine. The uninterrupted flow of Lord Shri Ram’s glory will continue forever.”
The donation controversy came to light for the first time when it was raised by Tej Narayan Pandey alias Pawan Pandey, the former Samajwadi Party MLA from Ayodhya. On June 7, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted on X on the issue.
At the Trust’s request, an SIT was formed by the state government on June 13 to investigate the matter. On June 23, the SIT submitted its preliminary investigation report to the home department, which included several key recommendations, including filing an FIR.
An FIR was registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station in Ayodhya on the Trust’s complaint on Thursday.
The FIR named Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu, a close aide of Champat Rai, along with Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Luvkush Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, Rama Shankar Yadav, Manish Yadav and Karunesh Pandey. All of them were arrested on Friday morning.
The case was registered against the eight named accused and other unidentified people under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5), relating to offences such as criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The SIT recommended the FIR on the basis of oral evidence, financial documents as well as electronic evidence, said officials privy to the matter.
Ayodhya prosecution officer KC Verma said all eight accused were produced before the anti-corruption court on Friday, which remanded them in judicial custody till Monday. Verma said police recovered a total of ₹79,85,893 in cash from seven of the accused. No cash recovery was made from Subhash Srivastava, he added.
Gopal Rao, who was looking after daily working of Ram Mandir and is neither an office bearer nor a member of the Trust, is also under the scanner, people familiar with the matter said.
Questions are being raised about his role in key decisions and temple management activities, they said.
The people quoted above also said the role of two bank officials and three-four employees is also being examined with police matching their statements with the evidence available.
Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the Ram temple construction committee said last week, “I will not give any statement as long as the SIT investigation is ongoing. The SIT has only submitted a preliminary report so far. The investigation process is underway. If the media is running anything in my name, they are committing a great sin.”
