Kejriwal Says Ram Temple Fund Theft Is 'Tip of the Iceberg', Alleges Cover-Up

Panaji: AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday termed the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ayodhya Ram temple as the "tip of the iceberg", and claimed that there was an attempt to shield powerful people involved in the scam.

Addressing a press conference here, he also questioned the ongoing probe into the alleged theft of temple donation funds.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that valuables offered by devotees, including jewellery, silver bricks, ornaments, cash and other offerings, were stolen from the temple.

Referring to the allegations of land scam linked to the temple trust, he said financial irregularities had been taking place since 2021.

"The biggest question in the minds of every devotee of Lord Ram is whether those responsible will be punished. Today, the entire country wants to know who those powerful people are that are being protected," he said.

The former Delhi chief minister alleged that the evidence relating to the case was being destroyed and witnesses intimidated in an attempt to suppress the matter.

Kejriwal rejected claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unaware of the alleged irregularities.

"People do not believe that the PM had no knowledge of what was happening. The temple trust was constituted under his leadership and every member was of his choice. It is impossible that such developments continued for years without his knowledge," he claimed.

Kejriwal referred to past allegations relating to land purchases for the temple, claiming that parcels of land were bought by the trust at highly inflated prices after changing hands within minutes. He also alleged that commissions were paid in construction contracts and claimed that thefts of offerings were captured on CCTV cameras on multiple occasions.

Claiming that the reported thefts represented only the "tip of the iceberg", Kejriwal also alleged that eight months of CCTV footage had been deleted.

Questioning the investigation, the AAP leader alleged that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the matter lacked legal authority as it was formed without the registration of an FIR.

The SIT could neither arrest suspects nor conduct searches or issue summons. The previous SITs formed to probe alleged land irregularities had also failed to produce any outcome, he said.

Kejriwal also alleged that while eight lower-level employees had been arrested and around Rs 80 lakh recovered, no action had been taken against those allegedly responsible for the larger financial irregularities.

"We are not alleging that any money reached the prime minister. We have no evidence to make such a claim. But the sequence of events indicates that there has been an attempt to protect those involved and bury the entire matter," Kejriwal alleged.

The AAP chief urged devotees and members of the Hindu community to raise their voice over the issue, saying that the sentiments of millions of Lord Ram's devotees had been hurt by these irregularities.

The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple came to light on June 7. An FIR was registered on June 25 on the basis of a preliminary report submitted by the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Eight persons associated with the temple's donation-counting process have been arrested so far, and the investigation is underway.