Crucial Ram Temple Trust meetings held amid theft row

Ayodhya (UP), Jul 8 (PTI) A series of meetings involving Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri took place here on Wednesday amid the continuing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged embezzlement of Ram temple donations, senior Trust officials said. This followed the Trust's crucial meeting days ago, where the resignations of former general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra on moral grounds were accepted. Officials said the Trust also decided to overhaul its administrative structure, including appointing a professional chief executive officer, following the controversy. Trust sources said Giri visited Rai and discussed matters with him for nearly an hour at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust office. The meeting came after Rai, in a letter addressed to devotees on Tuesday, said he would respond to all allegations after the SIT completes its investigation and submits its final report. Rai said in the letter that he had adopted maun dharan (a vow of silence) till then and appealed to devotees not to be misled by rumours or speculative reports. Sources said in the signed statement that later surfaced, Rai also questioned the State Bank of India's role in the temple's donation-counting process. He claimed the bank used a private agency to count cash and alleged the theft occurred during that process rather than under the Trust's direct supervision. Giri publicly defended Rai, saying Rai remained "untainted" in his eyes while maintaining that Rai had trusted the wrong people for too long, allowing the alleged embezzlement to go undetected. Later in the day, a delegation of Ayodhya saints met Giri and discussed recent developments in the Trust, the ongoing SIT investigation and the future course of the temple administration, according to sources familiar with the meetings. Giri also met Trust special invitee Gopal Rao, who maintained that he remains associated with the Trust despite being asked to stay away from its proceedings for the time being. The meetings came as the SIT continues to probe the alleged diversion of devotees' donations from the temple's donation boxes. Sources said the probe has widened beyond the alleged theft by contractual staff to examine the Trust's financial transactions, administrative processes and expenditure, while recommendations for structural reforms, including the appointment of a professional CEO, are also under consideration. PTI COR CDN ASD ASD