Won't comment before studying matter, says Ram Janmbhoomi Trust's Champat Rai on corruption allegations
Jun 13, 2021
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 13 : Hours after Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan Pandey made corruption allegations against Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, General-Secretary of the Trust Champat Rai on Sunday said he will not make any comment without studying the matter.
"They keep making allegations on us. It has been like this for the last 100 years. They blamed us also for the death of Mahatma Gandhi. I will not say anything in the matter without a study," Rai said.
Rai was speaking after participating on the first day of a two-day meeting between trustees and engineers, chaired by Ram Temple construction committee chairman Nripendra Misra. The next meeting is scheduled to be held at 10:30 am on Monday in the Circuit House here.
Earlier in the day, Pandey accused the Trust of committing corruption in a land deal and sought a CBI probe into the matter.
"The Trust purchased a piece of land, which had been bought in Rs 2 crores just 10 minutes before, in Rs 18.5 crores on March 18," he alleged.
He also said that Trust member Anil Mishra and Mayor of Ayodhya Rishikesh Upadhyay are witnesses in both the sale agreements.
Taking to Twitter, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, attaching several documents, said: "Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari bought land worth Rs 2 crores at 7:10 pm. At 7:15 pm, Champat Rai of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust bought this land from them for Rs 18.5 crores."
Further speaking on the construction of the Ram Mandir, Rai said, "We had a detailed deliberation on the construction of the temple. Renowned institutions of the country prepared the drawing of the temple foundation."
"After extensive homework, former IIT Delhi Director VS Raju, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee Director N Gopal Krishnan, etc., had found that a huge area beneath was filled with debris. We started removing the debris. It took two months to remove the debris," he informed.
He also said the meeting discussed the hindrances due to the rains in the supply of materials required and how to resolve them.
"The obstacles in the supply of stones from Rajasthan's Bansi Paharpur have been resolved with the cooperation of the state government," Rai added.
