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Uttarakhand Police raid at the premises of former Badrinath Temple officer Rajendra Chauhan in the Badrinath Dham area has led to the recovery of foreign currencies along with expensive saffron and other materials, officials said on Friday.
The raids were launched based on leads provided by Chauhan himself after his arrest, who is the key accused in the alleged donation theft case at the temple. Chauhan was arrested earlier in the day after nearly four hours of interrogation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The CCTV footage allegedly shows Chauhan collecting cash bundles and keeping them in his pocket on June 22, June 25 and June 29, following which the SIT summoned him for questioning. Giving an update on the raids, SIT Investigation Officer Mahadev Uniyal said, "Saffron and some other materials have been recovered. Foreign currencies have also been found. Accused is not cooperating, as far as cash is concerned." Chauhan is set to be produced before a court on Saturday, July 18, for further investigation. The step comes after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath Temple has received the 18-page internal inquiry report prepared by the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), while fresh CCTV footage has led SIT to identify more suspects in the case, said Uttarakhand Police on Thursday. According to Uttarakhand Police, the BKTC has handed over its 18-page internal inquiry report to the SIT as part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged theft of temple donations. The SIT has fully recovered CCTV footage from June 29 and July 2, which was to be investigated, police said earlier. The SIT had recovered CCTV footage from June 22 and June 25, which has already been analysed as part of the probe. On July 14, a committee constituted to examine the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath Temple visited Badrinath Dham and reviewed the process of how donations are handled and transported and arrangements within the counting room. Meanwhile, SIT probing the Badrinath donation theft case questioned the Temple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sohan Singh Rangad and his Personal Assistant, Atul Dimri, to probe gaps in oversight. Simultaneously, investigators embedded themselves in the temple's CCTV control room, systematically reviewing operational logs and tracking how daily donations were handled. (ANI)
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