A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Chamoli Police in Uttarakhand has sought the donation record for the last three years from the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) in connection with the alleged Badrinath Dham donation theft case, officials said.
They added that they are also looking into the possibility of the involvement of more people other than the accused arrested so far.
“As our investigation continues, we have asked BKTC to provide us with the record of donations for the last three years,” Badrinath Station House Officer (SHO) Mahadev Unyal said.
He said, “We arrested the accused after finding concrete evidence against them. We suspect that more people may be involved in the robbery. It will take some time to collect evidence against them. The investigation is still at an early stage.”
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The Special Investigation Squad on Friday arrested retired BKTC temple officer Rajendra Chauhan for allegedly stealing money from the counting room on three occasions before his retirement on June 30. Police also recovered foreign currency and other assets during a raid at the residence allotted to Chouhan in Badrinath temple.
“We have recovered foreign currency, saffron and other items like ghee from the room reserved for the accused as a temple officer at Badrinath Dham,” Onyal said.
On Saturday, Chouhan was produced before a sessions court in Chamoli, where he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Earlier, the Personal Assistant to the President’s Office, Pramod Nautiyal, was arrested from his home in Dehradun. Oneal’s company said last week that Nautial had not cooperated with investigators. The police have not yet recovered any stolen cash, gold or silver coins, except the Shaligram stone, from Nautiyal.
The alleged theft of donations is being investigated on multiple fronts. A four-member internal committee constituted by BKTC submitted its initial report to the Chairman of the Committee. Separately, the police’s Special Investigation Committee is probing the case, while a high-level committee set up by the Uttarakhand government is conducting an independent investigation.
