Badrinath donation row: Suspended temple committee employee booked

Dehradun, Jul 8 (PTI) An FIR has been registered against a suspended employee of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee in connection with alleged irregularities in the handling of donations at the Badrinath temple, police said on Wednesday. The FIR was registered against Pramod Nautiyal, who was posted as private secretary to the chairman of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), late on Tuesday, police said. The action came hours after Nautiyal was suspended after a four-member inquiry committee found the allegations of irregularities in donation management to be prima facie true. The BKTC is a statutory body which manages the Badrinath temple and other shrines in Uttarakhand. The FIR has been registered under sections 306 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master) and 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) at the Badrinath police station, police said. On Tuesday, the Uttarakhand government also constituted its own three-member probe committee. The Garhwal division commissioner will serve as the chairperson of the committee, which will submit its findings and recommendations to the state government in 15 days, according to officials. The issue gained attention after allegations of irregularities during the counting of donations at the Badrinath temple surfaced on social media. Subsequently, an organisation named 'Bhairav Sena' lodged a complaint, demanding an inquiry and the registration of an FIR in the matter. PTI DHM DIV DIV