Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khestra Trust, which was overseeing the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, found itself mired in corruption after its secretary Champat Rai was accused of purchasing a piece of land worth Rs 2 crore for a whopping Rs 18.5 crore.
Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Tej Narayan Pandey claimed that the price of the land in question, which was at Bagh Bijaisi area in Ayodhya, shot up to 18.5 crore within a span of ten minutes.
"The land was first registered in the names of two people for Rs 2 crore... 10 minutes later the Trust bought the land from them for Rs 18.5 crore and the registry was also done the same day," Singh alleged.
Incidentally in both the registrations, the witnesses were the same people. They were Trust member Anil Mishra and the Mayor of Ayodhya Rishikesh Upadhyaya.
The two leaders demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
"It is a very serious matter... it must be thoroughly investigated," Pandey said.
Rai, however, rejected the allegations and said that the land was purchased below the market value.
"It's a political conspiracy to malign the Trust... we have a record of everything," he added.
The Trust has been on a land-buying spree ever since it was entrusted with the task of constructing the Ram Temple. The central government had allotted 70 acres of land for the Temple.
The Trust later decided to expand the area of the Temple and purchased several temples adjacent to the Ram Janambhoomi.
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Published 14 June 2021, 03:58 IST