Ram Temple Trust Meeting: SIT Report Sparks CEO Post Debate
A preliminary Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on alleged thefts from donations and the proposal to create a chief executive officer post are among the items on the agenda for a meeting of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust scheduled for Monday, July 6, 2026, at 3 pm. The session at Mani Ramdas Chavni, the ashram of Trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, will be the first full gathering of Trust members since allegations surfaced over missing cash and valuables donated to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
According to an agenda seen by PTI, the Trust will consider appointing a CEO to manage temple affairs. The top item on the five-point agenda is discussion of the resignations submitted by general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra; both, along with special invitee Gopal Rao, have been under scrutiny since the alleged thefts came to light. The meeting agenda was issued by treasurer Govind Dev Giri.
The meeting comes amid two parallel probes: a Special Investigation Team investigation, whose tenure has been extended until the end of July 2026, and a separate police inquiry. Both the SIT and police have recorded statements from Rai, Mishra and Rao, but no first information report (FIR) has yet been registered against the three Trust functionaries. Lawyers from the Faizabad Bar Association have submitted a written complaint to police seeking an FIR against them.
Other agenda items include review and approval of the unaudited (alekhaparikshit) income-and-expenditure statement and balance sheet for the 2025–26 financial year, and other financial matters. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who attended earlier meetings virtually for age-related reasons, is reportedly unwell and recuperating in a Lucknow hospital. Eight people named in an FIR lodged after the SIT’s preliminary report have since been arrested.
Separately, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, July 4, 2026, visited the Maruti temple in Panaji and said he prayed for strict action against those involved in the alleged “chanda chori” at the Ayodhya Ram temple and anyone shielding them. Speaking after offering prayers, Kejriwal said millions of devotees had donated to the temple in faith and that any “misappropriation” of those donations would be a betrayal of that trust. He also claimed a former Union home secretary had donated a one-kilogram gold copy of the Ramcharitmanas to the Ayodhya temple. (PTI)
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/07/05/sit-report-post-of-ceo-part-of-agenda-at-ram-temple-trust-meeting-on-monday/
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Publish Date: 2026-07-05 06:31:00