Badrinath Temple donation theft row: Suspended BKTC employee Pramod Nautiyal arrested
CCTV footage showed Pramod Nautiyal suspiciously hiding or stealing cash, gold and silver coins, shaligram stones and offering envelopes from the temple's donation counting room.
THE Uttarakhand Police on Monday said they have made the first arrest in connection with the alleged irregularities in the handling of donations at the Badrinath temple. According to the police, the accused, Pramod Nautiyal, was arrested from his residence in Dehradun on Sunday.
Allegations against Pramod Nautiyal
Nautiyal is a suspended employee of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) and served as the personal assistant to the BKTC chairman. The BKTC is a statutory body that manages the Badrinath temple and other shrines in Uttarakhand.
The BKTC's four-member inquiry committee had found the allegations of irregularities in donation management against Nautiyal to be prima facie true. A preliminary inquiry found that cash was removed from the counting area in violation of established procedures.
The inquiry report found prima facie evidence that advance funds were released from the temple corpus without approval from the competent authority, amounting to a financial irregularity.
According to the report, the roles of the then manager, Kedarnath; the then chief in-charge officer, Kedarnath; and the then chief executive officer have been found to be questionable.
According to police, CCTV footage showed Nautiyal "suspiciously hiding or stealing" cash, gold and silver coins, Shaligram stones, and offering envelopes from the temple's donation counting room.
Earlier, Nautiyal had moved the Uttarakhand High Court challenging his suspension and the FIR lodged against him. The next hearing is scheduled for July 16.
Investigation into Badrinath donation theft
The Uttarakhand government had also constituted its own three-member probe committee last week.
The case is currently being investigated simultaneously by the police, SIT, the BKTC's departmental inquiry committee, and a high-level committee headed by the Garhwal commissioner.
The issue gained attention after allegations of irregularities during the counting of donations at the Badrinath temple surfaced on social media. Subsequently, an organisation named 'Bhairav Sena' lodged a complaint, demanding an inquiry and the registration of an FIR in the matter.
On Sunday, the Uttarakhand government had directed BKTC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to initiate action against the officials and employees found responsible for the alleged irregularities.
