AAP alleges multi-crore scam by Ayodhya's Ram Mandir Trust in land deal, SP seeks probe

Levelling a sensational charge against the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, set up by the Centre for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged a multi-crore scam by the trust and its associates through embezzling of funds in a land deal. AAP spokesperson and MP Sanjay Singh has claimed that the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust had purchased a piece of land in Ayodhya for Rs 18.5 crores, which was sold for just Rs 2 crores, 10 minutes before it was bought by the Ram Mandir trust and is allegedly valued at Rs 5.8 crores. 

Detailing on the alleged case of corruption, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed that in both the sale agreements, Anil Mishra, who is the Trustee of Ram Mandir Trust and Rishikesh Upadhyay, who is Mayor of Ayodhya, were present as witnesses. Sanjay Singh has alleged that the land sale deal signed on March 18 at 7:10 PM between Kusum and Harish Pathak and Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tiwari, saw the latter two buy the land at a price of Rs 2 crores. 

However, the AAP leader claimed, within 10 minutes a second sale agreement was signed between Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tiwari and the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, where the latter bought the piece of land for Rs 18.5 crore. Out of this, Rs 17 crores had been paid through RTGS mode of payment, Singh added while addressing a press conference on Sunday. 

"Nowhere in the world, the cost of land has inflated so much in just 10 minutes," he said. 

Unleashing an attack against Ram Jambhoomi Trust's General Secretary Champat Rai, the AAP leader said, "Champat Rai has embezzled crores of Rupees in the name of Ram Mandir. He should be called Natwar Lal, not Champat Rai. In the name of Lord Ram, who is revered across the country by crores of Hindus, for whom poor farmers to industrialists have donated to build a temple. However, they did not know that the trust that they were donating to would-be corrupt and scammed. " 

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and former UP Minister Pavan Pandey has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a CBI probe in the matter. The SP leader has sought a probe into all the land deals signed by the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. 

Trust Purchases 1.15 Lakh Sq Ft Of Land

Earlier in March this year, the Sriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra has purchased about 1.15 lakh square feet of land about 2-3 km away from Ram Janmabhoomi premises to develop facilities for security forces, devotees and for activities of the trust. Trustee Anil Mishra had informed that the two plots of land situated in Ram Kot and Tehri Bazaar localities were purchased last week from Harish Kumar Pathak, a resident of Basti district. The land had been bought at the rate of Rs 690 per square feet. 

On Monday, the Ram Mandir trust said on Monday that the stonework at the temple in Ayodhya will start in December. As per the trust, the filling of the foundation will be completed by the end of October and from the month of December, the second phase of construction work will begin which will include fixing of stones to create the structure of the future grand temple. He further informed that the construction work is going on round the clock and is being done in two shifts of 12 hours each, adding that about 1.2 lakh cubic meters of debris have been removed from the foundation site. 

The foundation of the Ram Mandir was laid in Ayodhya in August after the Supreme Court directed the Central Government to hand over the site at Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram temple. The Sri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra on 12 August revealed that all work related to the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya had begun. It also informed that the construction of the temple was underway with engineers from IIT Madras, CBRI Roorkee along with L&T which was conducting soil tests at the site. On August 5, PM Modi laid the foundation stone and performed the Bhumi Pujan of the historic Ram Mandir.