Haridwar: Dharam Das, Mahant of the Nirvani Ani Akhara, has expressed displeasure over the accusations of illegal land deal in Ayodhya involving the Ram Mandir Trust. He also demanded the removal of the Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai by terming him as irresponsible. Dharam Das urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind to re-constitute the trust by removing corrupt members.
He said that people have donated money for the construction of the Ram temple and not for buying land for Dharamshalas and doing business. Raising the question on the donations made for 'Shila Pujan' in 1984-85, he said that the trust has bought an empire with the donation money but for whom have they bought it for.
Read:| Congress seeks SC monitored probe in Ram Mandir 'land scam'
Terming coronavirus as 'sin', he said that the Ram Temple Trust is wasting donation money by buying land and the entire nation is reeling under crisis. Blaming Ram Temple Trust for the Covid situation in India, the Mahant said that ever since the trust was formed, the nation is in lockdown and the virus is spreading. "The whole system has been ruined by the sins of the corrupt people of the trust," he claimed.
He appealed to PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to look into the matter or else the entire saint community will pray to the almighty to remove these people as the temple work belongs to 'sadhus'. Terming Champat Rai as 'treasurer', Dharam Das said that he will also move to the Supreme Court if strict actions are not taken against corrupt trust members.
Read:| Ram temple trust slams allegations of fraud
Earlier, three opposition parties of Uttar Pradesh, Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had claimed that two real estate dealers allegedly purchased a property from an individual for Rs 2 crore and sold it, just a few minutes later, to the Ram Mandir Trust for Rs 18.50 crore. Senior Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Tej Narayan Pandey has also demanded a CBI probe into the case.
Meanwhile, refuting the allegation of fraud by Opposition parties in purchasing land at an inflated price for the Ram temple premises, Champat Rai termed the charges as "misleading and motivated by political hatred".
Read:| Priyanka Gandhi posts lengthy note alleging scam in purchase of Ram Temple land
