Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai on Saturday wrote to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding an independent forensic investigation into the alleged embezzlement of devotees’ offerings at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
In his letter, Rai sought a probe into offerings, donations, land purchases, construction activities and alleged financial irregularities related to the temple.
“An independent audit and physical verification of all cash offerings, digital donations, gold, silver and other valuable donations received by the temple from its inception till date is essential,” Rai said.
He also sought a forensic audit of all accounts, stock registers and digital records, besides an independent digital forensic examination of the CCTV system, servers, backups, digital logs, and both available and missing recordings.
Rai further demanded a comprehensive examination of all tenders, contracts and sub-contracts, along with an investigation into land transactions, including their actual market value, stamp duty valuation, sources of payment, capital gains, income tax records and the flow of funds.
“This is not a matter concerning any political party but the faith of crores of devotees and public money. The government must get to the bottom of these allegations of serious financial crime,” Rai said.
The UP Congress chief added that if no effective steps were taken despite the seriousness of the allegations, it would give rise to suspicion among the people that an impartial probe into the role of influential individuals was being obstructed.
