Police detain AAP supporters who gather to protest against Ram temple land issue

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters, who were reached at Hanuman Mandir in Ghaziabad were arrested on Wednesday. However, they were released after giving a warning from the administration.

Ghaziabad: Several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters were arrested on Wednesday for protesting at a public place during the covid pandemic. They had gathered at a city-based Hanuman Mandir to offer prayers. This comes after AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged irregularity in the purchase of land at Ayodhya by the Ram temple trust.

Holding a press conference on Sunday, Singh said, "The piece of land was earlier purchased for Rs 2 crores by Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari. 10 minutes later, the Trust bought the land for Rs 18.5 crores on March 18." Meanwhile, the police have released all the supporters after giving a warning.

Party spokesperson Tarunima Srivastava, who was also a part of the protest said that the stamp papers for the first purchase were bought at 5.11 p.m., and for the second at 5.22 p.m. and, in between, the price of the land had increased manifold. "The present government works as a 'dictator'. This government has been involved in several scams at the time when the country is facing a drastic pandemic," said Srivastava.

Champat Rai refuted the charges

Refuting the allegations of fraud in purchasing land at an inflated price for the Ram temple premises, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai termed the charges as "misleading and motivated by political hatred". In February 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the constitution of 'Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust' which would oversee the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, nearly three months after the Supreme Court ruling in the decades-old case.

In November 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had ruled unanimously in favour of Ram Lalla. It said the entire disputed land spread over 2.7-acre will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of the Ram temple at the site. The court had asked the government to give 5 acres of land to Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque.