Lucknow. Champat Rai, former general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, came forward for the first time on Tuesday in the case of theft of offerings from Ram Temple. A day after his resignation was accepted in the Trust meeting, he broke his silence by issuing an open letter to Ram devotees. In the letter, Champat Rai said that he will not say anything on the allegations being leveled against him, but after the final report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) comes, he will answer each allegation and each question sequentially.
Champat Rai said that after the incident of theft of offerings that came to light during the counting of donations on June 7, 2026, various allegations were made against him. For this reason he has maintained silence till now. He says that till now only the preliminary report of the SIT has come out, whereas the whole truth will become clear in the final report.
‘Preliminary report made public, final report awaited’
In his letter, Champat Rai wrote that the preliminary investigation report of the SIT was presented in the trust meeting held on July 6, which has now become public. He said that this report was earlier ‘top secret’. Now he is waiting for the final investigation report and after it comes out, he will present his views in detail on the entire matter. He claimed that after the final report comes out, a factual answer will be given to the allegations leveled against him and the whole truth will be placed before the Ram devotees.
Cited 45 years of public life
Champat Rai wrote in his letter that in the year 1991, he was sent to Ayodhya on behalf of the organization and his missionary life has been for 45 years. He said that wherever he worked, his life has always been like an open book. At the end of the letter, he bowed to the devotees of Ram and also appealed to maintain patience.
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Saints said- resignation is a step of moral responsibility
Many saints of Ramnagari termed the acceptance of resignation of Champat Rai and Trustee Dr. Anil Mishra as an appropriate decision according to the circumstances. Saints say that Champat Rai has left the post taking moral responsibility, but this should not make him guilty. He says that the final conclusion will come only after the completion of the SIT investigation.
Demand to form an independent monitoring committee
The saints also raised the demand for constituting an independent monitoring committee to make the arrangements of Ram Temple more transparent. They say that senior saints of Ayodhya should be included in this committee so that such incidents do not recur in the future and religious monitoring is also maintained on the arrangements. The saints also demanded that adequate representation of the Ramanandacharya tradition should be ensured in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Questions were also raised on the role of Govind Devagiri
Some saints also raised questions on the role of Trust Treasurer Govind Devagiri. He said that if there was negligence at the management level in the offering theft case, then its responsibility cannot be limited to Champat Rai alone. The saints asked that if accountability was being fixed then why resignations were taken from only Champat Rai and Anil Mishra.
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What came out in the preliminary report of SIT?
The preliminary report of the SIT has prima facie confirmed incidents of theft and embezzlement during the offering calculation. The CCTV footage available in the investigation claimed to have recorded about 70 incidents of hiding bundles of notes and loose notes. The report also identified serious flaws in the security arrangements, monitoring system and counting process.
Along with recommending an FIR against eight people, the SIT has also filed an FIR against counting room in-charge Subhash Srivastava, other supervisory personnel and Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu and recommended a detailed investigation. However, the SIT has clarified that this is only a preliminary report and the final investigation is still underway.
Now all eyes are on the final report
After Champat Rai came forward in public for the first time, now the eyes of the entire case are fixed on the final report of the SIT. This report will decide who had the administrative responsibility in the offering theft case and against whom further action will be taken.
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