Champat Rai says allegations 'baseless', will respond after SIT's final report; Oppn claims cover-up

Ayodhya, Jul 7 (PTI) A day after his resignation was accepted by the Ram temple trust, its former general secretary Champat Rai on Tuesday said he would respond to all allegations of donation embezzlement after the SIT submits its final report, even as opposition parties alleged a "cover-up" and stepped up the demand for its dissolution. Probing the donation theft case, Ayodhya police said it was preparing to confront three of the accused -- Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, and Karunesh Pandey -- with new evidence gathered from the July 5 questioning of the five other arrested accused, and was granted their one-day remand by a court here. All eight accused were in judicial custody following their arrest on June 25 and were questioned in jail after special permission. With the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust facing mounting scrutiny, there have been demands to name Rai and other members in the FIR. In a handwritten letter addressed to "Ram devotees", Rai, who had skipped the Trust meeting a day earlier, said on Tuesday that "baseless allegations" have been levelled against him and that his life has been an "open book". Rai said he observed "maun dharan" (silence) over the allegations and noted that the preliminary report of the Special Investigation Committee (SIT) had been presented before the Trust's general meeting. The report, which he said was initially marked "top secret", has since been made public. He said after the SIT submits its final report, he would respond point by point to the issues being raised and that "the entire truth" would come before the public. Rai shared a photograph of the letter on social media platform X along with a couplet from the Ramcharitmanas: "Dheeraj dharm mitra aru naari, aapad kaal parikhiye chari" (Patience, righteousness, friends and one's spouse are tested in times of adversity). The Trust, meanwhile, clarified that Rai and member Anil Mishra are no longer its members after it accepted their resignations on Monday, putting to rest any speculation regarding their status. The Trust is likely to decide at its next meeting on July 22 whether to make Krishna Mohan, a retired Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer, the permanent replacement for Champat Rai. "As of now, Krishna Mohan has been appointed as the interim General Secretary by the Trust, but the Trust may later decide to make this appointment permanent," Treasurer of the Trust, Govind Dev Giri, told PTI. Giri had on Monday said that the Trust would discuss the final report of the SIT along with appointments of additional trustees at the next meeting. At its first meeting since the allegations came to light, the Trust had on Monday accepted the two resignations and named Krishna Mohan as interim general secretary. It also announced the formation of a three-member search committee to identify a chief executive officer for the temple body and promised to overhaul its donation system and plug loopholes. BJP, RSS 'whitewashing theft': Opposition ---------------------------------------------- The Congress accused the BJP-RSS of "whitewashing" the theft of donations in order to protect the "real culprits", as it demanded that the details of all donations be made public and Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his "silence" on this issue. "The people of the country believe that through resignations and limited action, an attempt is being made to cover up the entire matter and protect the real culprits and big players," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X. He said the Trust must be immediately dissolved and a new trust be formed by including Shankaracharyas, Dharmacharyas, saints, and religious representatives. "The public has no faith in the Uttar Pradesh government's SIT. The investigation of the case should be conducted independently under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge," he said. Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP and RSS of "capturing" the temple administration in an "unauthorised manner". Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee workers took out a 'Sadbuddhi Padyatra' in Lucknow in protest against the alleged donation theft. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal launched the party's state-wide 'Raghupati Raghav Rajaram Satyagraha' in Nashik. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu along with his cabinet ministers offered prayers a Ram temple in Shimla and expressed the hope that those responsible for misusing temple donations would find their way to righteousness AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal sought stricter action against the "donation thieves" and said people want them to be hanged. "Only FIR is not sufficient," he said. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate demanded a CBI probe monitored by a sitting Supreme Court judge. The Samajwadi Party has also been demanding that the Supreme Court step in. CM Adityanath hits back at Cong, SP --------------------------------------- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused the opposition of running a campaign to defame Ayodhya and the Ram Janmabhoomi despite the temple trust taking action based on the preliminary report from the SIT. "The preliminary report of the SIT has led to action by the Trust. But for the past month, the Samajwadi Party, Congress and other so-called secular parties have been running a campaign to defame Ayodhya. "They are targeting Ayodhya, targeting the Ram Janmabhoomi and attacking the faith of millions. This is a malicious attempt to create a negative atmosphere in the country," he alleged. He said the trust had said that if it issued a clarification on its own, people might not believe it, and therefore requested the government to constitute the SIT to uncover the truth. He accused the Congress and Samajwadi Party of "attacking" Sanatan and asked why their mouths were "glued shut" when it came to Waqf issues. "Even a chameleon must be feeling ashamed as SP and Congress change their colours faster than it does." All donated valuable articles safe: Trust ------------------------------------------- Several donors and individuals had claimed that costly items were missing or had not been properly acknowledged, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute an SIT to probe the allegations. The temple trust holds over 30 kg of gold-like items and 1,518 kg of silver-like items among other valuables donated by devotees, its treasurer Giri said on Tuesday. Giri told PTI that all 2,926 valuable articles donated to the temple were "safe" and their records maintained. He gave the details of the donations after the Trust on Monday displayed several of the offerings to the temple, like a gold 'Ramcharitmanas', before the media here. Giri said the Trust had received 16.765 kg of gold-like items up to March 31, 2024, another 10.445 kg during 2024-25 and 5.050 kg during 2025-26, taking the total to 32.259 kg as of March 31, 2026. He said it had 1,518.925 kg of silver and silver-like items, including 849.272 kg of refined silver, adding every donor was issued a receipt for the donated article. Giri said anyone possessing evidence of irregularities should submit it to the SIT instead of making unverified allegations. PTI CDN ABN ASK MR SHB RT