Champat Rai Told Not to Attend Yogi's Ram Mandir Visit Amid Donation Theft Probe

The Uttar Pradesh government has instructed Champat Rai, the influential managing trustee of the Ram Mandir, to send a representative instead of personally attending Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's scheduled visit to the temple on Friday. The directive is part of a protocol letter issued by the district administration, which explicitly asks Rai to nominate an alternate person for the event and inform the duty magistrate. This move comes amid a widening investigation into the alleged theft of donation funds from the temple.

Rai, who oversees all administrative responsibilities of the Ram Mandir Trust, has historically been present at all VIP events at the temple. His exclusion from the CM's program is seen as significant given the ongoing probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). On Thursday, the fourth day of its investigation, the SIT arrived at the temple at 8:30 AM and questioned trust member Dr. Anil Mishra regarding the counting of donation money and staff appointments.

The SIT is also expected to question Arjun Singh, a Radio Propa¬ganda Inspector who has been on duty at the temple for about 20 years, and the in-charge of the Ram Janmabhoomi police post. Authorities have so far recovered ₹2 crore in cash based on leads from five individuals—Lavkush, Avneesh, Anukalp, Karune, and Ramashankar alias Tinnu—who were involved in counting the donations.

Political reactions have intensified. Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai, who arrived in Ayodhya, accused the BJP of covering up a larger theft involving gold bricks and called for the arrest of Champat Rai and Gopal Rao. He demanded a High Court judge-led inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and former minister Pawan Pandey had earlier alleged that between ₹5 crore and ₹7.5 crore had been stolen from the temple. The controversy escalated after BJP leader Dr. Rajneesh Singh wrote to the Prime Minister on June 9 requesting a CBI investigation, and the Prime Minister's Office subsequently sought a report from the temple trust on June 10.

There are also discussions between the trust and the government about appointing a Chief Executive Officer for the temple, similar to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, who would be a senior IAS officer responsible for administrative decisions.