'70kg silver, 1,250kg gold': Mahua Moitra slams Centre over Ram Mandir donation ‘theft’

TRinamool us congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on sat targeted the exchange authorities o'er the alleged donation row in the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, raising several questions.Speaking to media persons, Moitra flagged donations of ₹3,500 crores without an audit trail. She also asked where all the gold and silver donated by devotees had gone.“In 2020, the auditors had already flagged that you are looking at the donations which are going to come in. And these are raw donations. ₹3,500 crores of raw donations have come in, and there is no receipt whatsoever. Second, what is missing? 70 kilos of silver, 1,250 kilos of gold, you have ₹200 crore in cash. Now, they say the paduka and the Lord's necklace are also missing. You have the Sindhi community that is extremely vocal, saying they have donated 200 silver bricks of a kilo each, and they have no idea where they have gone,” Moitra told the media. The Krishnanagar MP asked about the 8 people arrested in the case so far, calling them “small people”.“Who are these small 8 people that you have arrested? This trust is looked after by the Prime Minister. And Yogiji is saying don't politicise the issue. Millions of Hindu devotees have placed their faith in you, and this is what you are doing? Where is the cash? This Champat Rai is lampat now, what have you been doing?” she added.The TMC leader also targeted chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying that “wherever he goes, something vanishes”.Champat Rai’s resignation confirmedThe Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Saturday confirmed that it had received the resignations of its General Secretary, Champat Rai, and trustee Anil Mishra amid an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities in temple donations.In a press release posted by the Trust, the temple body said it was "shocked, hurt, and deeply saddened by the incidents that have come to light in Shri Ram Temple (Ayodhya) over the past few days". It added that, as "representatives of all devotees of Lord Ram and the volunteers serving here", it was "committed to ensuring a fair investigation and reassuring the devotees.""The Trust has received a resignation letter from Shri Champat Rai, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra (Trust), and from Trustee Shri Anil Mishra. The Trust will consider the matter in its upcoming meeting,” the statement said.Trust assures donations ‘safe’Assuring devotees about offerings made to the temple, the Trust said, "The Trust assures those devotees who personally handed over silver bricks, ornaments, and other items to the Trust officials as offerings in the service of Lord Shri Ram that these items are safely available along with proper records."On the alleged irregularities involving temple donations, it said, "Regarding the incident related to funds received through the temple donation boxes, based on the interim report submitted by the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh administration at the request of the Trust, the Trust has lodged an FIR, and legal proceedings are underway."The Trust also said, “We assure everyone that steps will be taken to ensure that such unfortunate situations do not arise in the future. The guilty will receive strict punishment in accordance with the law and serve as a deterrent.”It further asserted that "anti-social, irreligious, and self-serving elements will not be allowed to succeed in their attempts to tarnish Sanatan Dharma" and urged people to protect themselves from "misleading and baseless rumours being spread."“These clouds will pass, the darkness will recede, the light of truth will prevail, and the powerful stream of devotion to Lord Ram will continue to flow uninterrupted,” it concluded.