The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday said it has no knowledge of its vice president Champat Rai resigning as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust amid allegations of the embezzlement of donations to the Ram temple.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal’s denial came following heightened speculation that Mishra and trustee Anil Mishra had stepped down from their posts in the Trust on moral grounds following the allegations.
PTI repeatedly attempted to contact Rai and Mishra for their response to the reports but they were unavailable.
“The VHP doesn’t have any knowledge of the resignation,” Bansal told PTI over the phone.
Sources added that pressure has mounted on Rai and Mishra after the recommendations made in the preliminary report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the alleged irregularities.
Officials said the SIT’s initial report, submitted after a six-day inquiry, contained “serious” findings and indicated that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s stated policy that “no guilty will be spared” had increased the pressure.
The swirling speculation came as the eight persons named in an FIR in the case were arrested. The FIR, lodged at the instance of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Trust, follows recommendations made in the preliminary SIT report.
Those named in the FIR include Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu, who is said to have worked as Rai’s driver earlier. The others are Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava. They were associated with the process of counting cash and valuables received as donations at the temple, an official said.
“All the accused were in Ayodhya itself and were picked up for questioning late Thursday night. Further questioning is underway. Police are preparing to present them before a magistrate,” a senior official told PTI here.
VHP president Alok Kumar confirmed that some senior VHP leaders had met in Ayodhya on Thursday but said he was unaware of the details.
Sources said the SIT’s preliminary report had found evidence of alleged wrongdoing by several of the eight persons named in the FIR registered by the Ayodhya Police.
“The SIT report clearly doesn’t augur well for those holding responsible positions because, irrespective of their individual role, it appears they failed to notice or check the alleged wrongdoing,” a source said.
The controversy surfaced on June 7 after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav flagged the issue. An SIT was constituted on June 13 at the Trust’s request and submitted its preliminary report on June 23.
Trust special invitee Gopal Rao also said he had no knowledge of any resignation.
“What do I say? It seems publications will only rest after getting Champat ji’s resignation,” Rao told television news channels on Friday.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal’s denial came following heightened speculation that Mishra and trustee Anil Mishra had stepped down from their posts in the Trust on moral grounds following the allegations.
PTI repeatedly attempted to contact Rai and Mishra for their response to the reports but they were unavailable.
“The VHP doesn’t have any knowledge of the resignation,” Bansal told PTI over the phone.
Sources added that pressure has mounted on Rai and Mishra after the recommendations made in the preliminary report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the alleged irregularities.
Officials said the SIT’s initial report, submitted after a six-day inquiry, contained “serious” findings and indicated that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s stated policy that “no guilty will be spared” had increased the pressure.
The swirling speculation came as the eight persons named in an FIR in the case were arrested. The FIR, lodged at the instance of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Trust, follows recommendations made in the preliminary SIT report.
Those named in the FIR include Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu, who is said to have worked as Rai’s driver earlier. The others are Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava. They were associated with the process of counting cash and valuables received as donations at the temple, an official said.
“All the accused were in Ayodhya itself and were picked up for questioning late Thursday night. Further questioning is underway. Police are preparing to present them before a magistrate,” a senior official told PTI here.
VHP president Alok Kumar confirmed that some senior VHP leaders had met in Ayodhya on Thursday but said he was unaware of the details.
Sources said the SIT’s preliminary report had found evidence of alleged wrongdoing by several of the eight persons named in the FIR registered by the Ayodhya Police.
“The SIT report clearly doesn’t augur well for those holding responsible positions because, irrespective of their individual role, it appears they failed to notice or check the alleged wrongdoing,” a source said.
The controversy surfaced on June 7 after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav flagged the issue. An SIT was constituted on June 13 at the Trust’s request and submitted its preliminary report on June 23.
Trust special invitee Gopal Rao also said he had no knowledge of any resignation.
“What do I say? It seems publications will only rest after getting Champat ji’s resignation,” Rao told television news channels on Friday.
