LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have alleged corruption worth crores by Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust members/office bearers in the purchase of a land in Ayodhya during March 2021.
In separate press conferences held on Sunday by the AAP MP Sanjay Singh in Lucknow and ex UP minister and SP leader Pawan Pandey in Ayodhya, the two Opposition leaders demanded that the Central government orders a CBI and Enforcement Directorate probe into this matter of "money laundering" and "corruption" by the Trust.
Detailing about entire episode in Lucknow, the AAP leader released documents in the media about the matter.
"A land valued at around Rs 5.80 crore in Ayodhya was sold by Kusum Pathak and Harish Pathak to Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tiwari for Rs 2 crore at 7.10 pm on March 18, 2021. Just five minutes later, Ansari and Tiwari (who had purchased the land at 7.10 pm for Rs 2 crore) entered into an agreement for selling the same land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for an unimaginably high Rs 18.50 crore. Out of the agreed sale sum of Rs 18.50 crore, Rs 17 crore was paid through RTGS promptly. Forget about India, nowhere in the world has anyone heard about a piece of land becoming so costly (price of land rising by Rs 5.50 lakh per second)," Singh said
Singh added that another surprising aspect of both the duly registered land deals was that witness to both deals were common. The two witnesses were none other, but Ayodhya mayor Rishikesh Upadhyaya and a Temple Trust member Anil Mishra.
The AAP leader further said while the first deal of Rs 2 crore happened at 7.10 pm on March 18, the second deal happened five minutes later at 7.15 pm. But astonishingly, the stamp paper for the second deal (agreement of sale to the Temple Trust) was purchased at 5.11 pm, while the stamp paper for the first deal was purchased at 5.22 pm. "This means that the Trust had planned the deal well in advance," alleged Singh.
The Rajya Sabha member accused the Temple Trust and its general secretary Champat Rai (who is also a senior VHP leader) of duping countless Lord Ram devotees, by misusing in a land deal, their donations for the Ram Temple construction. It was Champat Rai who undertook the sale agreement on behalf of the Temple Trust. "This amounts to money laundering and massive corruption, I demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government order a CBI and ED probe into the March 18, 2021 land deal and put behind bars all those found involved in it," demanded Singh
In Ayodhya district, at the same time, ex SP MLA and former UP minister Pawan Pandey also released the same set of documents at a press conference and alleged massive corruption by the Temple Trust in the land sale agreement worth Rs 18.50 crore.
"Was there a golden treasure hidden in the concerned land that its sale price jumped from Rs 2 crore to Rs 18.50 crore in just five minutes. The entire episode is a jolt to the faith of countless Ram Bhakts, who have generously contributed for construction of the grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya. I demand that the PM and the central government order a CBI probe in the matter and put in jail all those involved in this matter," the SP leader Pandey demanded.
The probe should also find out who all got the share of Rs 17 crore sent through RTGS as part of the agreement of sale on March 18, Pandey demanded.
Importantly, both Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tiwari (who first purchased the land fir Rs 2 crore and later entered into sale agreement of Rs 18.50 crore with the Temple Trust on March 18), are well known property dealers of Ayodhya. Ansari is considered close to SP leader Pawan Pandey, who had held the press conference in Ayodhya, informed sources in Ayodhya told The New Indian Express.
Importantly, both the press conferences in Lucknow and Ayodhya, coincided with an important meeting of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Ksehtra Trust in Ayodhya on Sunday.
Reacting to corruption allegations against him and the Temple Trust, the trust's general secretary Champat Rai told journalists in Ayodhya,"I'll talk about only what happened in the Trust's meeting pertaining to Ram Temple construction and nothing else. Allegations and accusations are always levelled against us, we've become habitual to them. Since 100 years accusations are being made against us, including accusations of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. If you (journalists) are interested in knowing about what was discussed at the Temple construction related meeting today, I'll detail about it or else I'm going," Rai said.