Ayodhya, June 27 (IANS) The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Saturday confirmed that it has received resignations from the General Secretary Champat Rai as well as Trustee Anil Mishra amid the wide uproar over alleged misappropriation of donations and ‘chadhava’ (offerings) at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Both high-profile members of the Temple Trust tendered their resignations on moral grounds on Friday, and this marked the first official admission of their resignations, an issue that kept rumours mills as well as conflicting reports buzzing through the day.

The Temple Trust, “shocked, hurt and extremely saddened” over the donation controversy surrounding the temple in the past few days, said that it will deliberate on the issue and take the final call on the resignations, during its next meeting.

The Trust also affirmed its commitment, as representative of all devotees of Lord Ram, to ensure fair investigation into the matter and upholding the unwavering faith of crores of devout Hindus.

In its first public statement after the donation controversy, it reiterated its commitment to fair and impartial probe into the entire theft controversy while restoring the faith of devotees.

It also assured the devotees that their offerings in form of silver bricks, jewellery, and other valuables are safe and a complete record of the offerings is available with them.

In a press statement issued by Trust Treasurer Swami Govinddev Giri, the Trust said that a case has been lodged based on the interim report of Special Investigation Team (SIT) and that legal proceedings in the matter are underway.

Underlining its commitment to maintaining transparency, it added that all necessary steps would be taken to prevent such an unfortunate situation from recurring in the future and guilty will be punished in accordance with the law.

The Ram Mandir trust also cautioned the devotees against getting influenced or carried away by ‘motivated campaign’ to slander the Sanatan Dharma.

It also appealed to the devotees to not fall for baseless and misleading rumours regarding the donation embezzlement reports and urged them to prevent others from falling prey to hearsay.

–IANS

mr/khz