Ram Temple Trust rejects '2 crore to 18 crore in minutes' scam claim
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Theerth Kshetra Trust chief Champat Rai clarified that the Trust had bought land at rates cheaper than in the open market with the consent of the owners.
FollowShri Ram Janmabhoomi Theerth Kshetra Trust chief Champat Rai has rejected allegations of land-grabbing made by the Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party and claimed that the Trust had purchased land from surrounding villages to ensure the safety of the Ram Mandir and to provide easy access to devotees.
Rai clarified that the Trust had bought land at rates cheaper than in the open market with the consent of the owners.
AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and former Samajwadi Party MLA Pawan Pandey had on Sunday claimed that Trust chief Champat Rai was buying land worth Rs 2 crore at an exaggerated cost of Rs 18.5 crore for the Ram temple premises with the help of Trust member Anil Mishra.
According to the two leaders, Rai allegedly bought land in Bag Bjaisi village under Sadar tehsil of Ayodhya district on March 18 this year for Rs 18.5 crore from the first purchaser. However, the first purchaser had bought the land measuring 1.208 hectares barely 2 minutes earlier from its original owners for Rs 2 crore.
The two leaders termed this land purchase as a case of money laundering and sought investigations by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation.
However, Champat Rai claims that the original property purchasers had entered into an agreement with the owners years ago for the applicable price (at that time) but carried out the formalities to sell the property to the temple trust at the current market price in March.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra was set up by the central government in February 2020 to oversee Ram Temple's construction following a Supreme Court verdict. It was awarded around 70 acres of land in the ruling, and 12 of its 15 members are nominated by the Centre.
