Ayodhya, July 1 (IANS) The Faizabad Bar Association on Thursday submitted a formal complaint at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station in Ayodhya seeking the registration of an FIR against Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s former General Secretary Champat Rai, former trustee Anil Mishra, and others regarding the alleged embezzlement of funds and donations at the Ram Temple.

The Bar Association had earlier planned a foot march to the police station, which was cancelled after the police reportedly assured them that an FIR would be registered.

During an interaction with IANS earlier in the day, Faizabad Bar Association President Kalika Prasad Mishra had raised concerns over the way the previous FIR in the case was lodged, which had led to the arrest of eight individuals.

“There are serious questions over how the recovery of cash has been mentioned by the police. For example, the police have recovered the cash from ten different places, but it has been mentioned together,” he said.

He said that the association was seeking registration of an FIR against Champat Rai, Mishra, and other members. “More names can get added,” he added.

“For us, this will be the first FIR since it is completely separate from the previous FIR that was lodged against eight accused. We are registering this complaint against different people,” he added.

Seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the case, the Bar Association President said: “The rest of the things we will leave on Lord Ram.”

He also sought the Enforcement Directorate’s intervention in the case, saying: “There is so much money involved, who will probe if the ED does not come in? In fact, it should have come in by now.”

Moreover, he had blamed the police for “failing” to protect the funds and donations at the Trust despite heavy security.

“The police have failed…despite such heavy security, this large-scale misappropriation took place,” he added.

Meanwhile, though crores of money and valuables are reported to have been siphoned off from the temple, a theft of Rs 79.85 lakh has been documented on record.

The revelations apparently come from the submission of documents before the court by the investigating team.

According to documents in the public domain, a large amount of cash has been seized from Lavkush and Anukalp Mishra, while Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, who emerged as the most talked-about face of alleged loot, was caught hiding Rs 1 lakh cash.

According to documents, Rs 14.25 lakh was recovered from Lavkush Mishra and Rs 16.82 lakh from Anukalp Mishra.

The accused, Avinash Shukla, was found to be in possession of the maximum cash, illegally procured from temple offerings. A whopping amount of Rs 20.39 lakh was recovered from him.

–IANS

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