The Special Investigation Team (SIT) tasked with finding out the origins and the beneficiary of the alleged irregularities in the donations and valuables given at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has presented its initial report to the Uttar Pradesh government. The report has been handed over to the senior officers at the Secretariat of the Chief Minister Tuesday morning.
The report is believed to have recommendations and initial findings on how to manage, count, store and bank the donation amounts collected from the temples. The lapses in supervision, poor record keeping, and inadequacies in cash and valuables given to the investigators by the devotees have been reported.
Preliminary findings are thought also to include people associated with the donation collection process, counting, fund transfer to bank, maintenance of CCTV surveillance records. The report is said to shed light on the chain of responsibility to run the temple’s donating mechanism.
The SIT has reportedly recommended filing an FIR with the purpose of conducting a detailed investigation into the alleged embezzlement as part of its recommendations. It also recommends evidence-gathering with regard to theft or the use of such funding, financial record inspection and investigation into possible larger-scale networks.
On June 13, the Uttar Pradesh government has formed the SIT headed by Vijay Vishwas Pant, Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow Divisional commissioner, IG Lucknow range Kiran S and the Finance Department’s Special Secretary Neel Ratan.
Unexpectedly, the opinion of the state government will be taken into account to determine what further legal and administrative steps to take in the high-profile case.