As part of the investigation, the SIT has questioned trust general secretary Champat Rai, temple administrator Gopal Rao and several individuals involved in counting donations and maintaining financial records.
The trust has denied any wrongdoing and said it supports an independent investigation to establish the facts. According to the state government, the trust sought the probe to ascertain the truth and examine what it described as attempts to tarnish the image of the Ram temple.
The allegations have also prompted three separate complaints at different police stations seeking registration of FIRs, though no case has been registered so far.
During his interaction with reporters, Digvijaya Singh also claimed that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar continued to be associated with the trust. However, the trust’s official records do not list Kumar among its current 15 trustees. Kumar, a retired IAS officer, had played a role in the administrative establishment of the trust during his tenure in the Union home ministry but does not currently hold a seat on its board.
With opposition parties continuing to raise questions over the trust’s finances and the SIT expanding its inquiry, the donation controversy has emerged as a fresh political flashpoint around one of the country’s most prominent religious institutions.
With PTI inputs
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