Ayodhya, June 15 (IANS) Strict action will be taken against those involved in the pilferage of donations from the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, founder president of the Bajrang Dal and former national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vinay Katiyar, said on Monday after the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.
According to him, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who urged the Uttar Pradesh government to set up an SIT to investigate the allegations.
“Not only the Chief Minister, but the Prime Minister called up and asked for an SIT in the night, and it was set up,” he said in reply to a question on whether it was Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who had initiated the probe.
Katiyar, who has been fighting for a long time for a temple at the site, did not comment on the Opposition’s allegations of theft. “Who in the Opposition is making the allegations?” he asked when the matter was brought up by IANS.
When told that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav was among those who raised questions, Katiyar said: “Akhilesh is a good boy. I will not speak about all that.”
When asked whether he believes that the state government attempted to sweep the matter under the carpet when the issue was first raised, he said: “Even I would like to know why that happened.”
The veteran leader said that he has not been involved with the day‑to‑day running of the temple since it was built. He, however, plans to go there now and look into the situation.
“Yes, I will go there to find out for myself. Ideally, all donations should have been deposited into the bank account daily. People were at fault if they did not do so, even when the bank manager would himself visit the temple from time to time,” Katiyar said.
“The accountant should have records of all donations made to the temple. It has to be checked,” he added when asked whether proper records were maintained.
When it was pointed out that several crores may have been looted and only the small fry have been taken into custody till now, the leader said: “Everybody who was involved will be punished. That is why the SIT has been set up. The money kept at the temple was meant from prasad to be distributed to devotees.”
–IANS
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