What the SIT report on Ram temple donation theft does and does not say
· Scroll
Examining 45 days of CCTV footage from the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a Special Investigation Team set up by the Uttar Pradesh government found 70 instances of counting staff hiding bundles of notes and loose cash in their clothes, pockets and shoes.
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Tasked with investigating donation theft at the temple, the SIT submitted a preliminary report to the state’s home department on June 23. Scroll has seen a copy of the report.
The report details how offerings at the temple were stolen during the counting process, with staff routinely hiding cash on their bodies and walking out with it, as systems meant to stop this were not enforced.
The reports flags serious lapses by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust that runs the temple, and the State Bank of India, the banker to the trust.
It pins blame for the dilution of the security protocol in the counting room on trustee Anil Mishra, a prominent local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. However, it does not recommend any action against him.
While it does not name Champat Rai, the general secretary of the trust, one of his aides is among the eight staffers that it recommends that the police investigate. The same men have been named as the accused in a first...