The investigation into the case of theft of offerings in the famous Badrinath Dham temple of Uttarakhand has intensified. Special Investigation Team (SIT) reached the temple on Saturday (July 11). During this period new evidence was explored. It also includes CCTV footage and call records of accused employee Pramod Nautiyal. Which was suspended after the matter came to light.
According to the police, in the CCTV footage, suspended Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) employee Pramod Nautiyal has been seen suspiciously hiding or stealing cash, gold and silver coins, Shaligram stones and offering envelopes from the donation counting room of the temple.
According to the police, accused Pramod Nautiyal is seen coming and going between the donation counting room and his office several times. Due to this, investigators suspect that the stolen items were being hidden in the office. Police said that accused Pramod Nautiyal was seen hiding bundles of 500 and 100 rupee notes along with gold and silver coins, Shaligram stones and offering envelopes containing 10 to 12 thousand rupees. During this period, he came and went between the counting room and his office 2 to 3 times. Police suspect that after stealing money and gold and silver coins from the counting room, he used to keep them in his office. This entire activity has been captured in the CCTV footage of July 2.
SIT has now expanded the scope of investigation and started examining CCTV footage of other dates and call detail records of the suspended employee. Police said that on this basis, SIT is now scanning the CCTV footage of June 25 and 29. Along with this, investigation of Nautiyal's call records has also been started.
The investigation began after irregularities were detected during the counting of cash donations offered by devotees at the Badrinath temple on July 2. Preliminary investigation found that cash was withdrawn from the counting area in violation of the prescribed procedure. In this case, an FIR was registered in Badrinath police station on the complaint of BKTC in-charge temple officer Yudhveer Pushpavan. SIT also recorded his statement. During the investigation, statements of other BKTC officials including CCTV control officer Panwar and Harendra Kothari, who were present at the time of donation counting, were also taken.
Meanwhile, Pramod Nautiyal filed a petition in the Uttarakhand High Court challenging his suspension and the FIR registered against him. Justice Alok Mehra heard the case and directed BKTC to file its reply. The next hearing of the case will be on July 16.
At present the investigation of this matter is going on at 4 different levels. Apart from the police and SIT, the departmental inquiry committee of BKTC and a high level committee headed by the Garhwal Commissioner are also investigating. After this case of irregularities in the offerings of devotees in the Dham has come to light, questions are being raised on the functioning of the temple committee.
