LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav took a swipe at the Yogi Adityanath government after it constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged irregularities in Ram temple donation funds, saying the root of the conspiracy was “not far away”.His remarks came after the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday set up a three-member SIT to investigate allegations related to donations and financial management of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.In a post on X on Saturday evening, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “The root of this conspiracy is not far away, therefore there will be no need to go far to take action if the truth is to be uncovered.”He further said, “If the police are unable to identify the guilty, we can help.”However, Yadav did not specify whom he was referring to in the post.According to a report by PTI, the SIT was constituted on the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath after the trust sought an impartial investigation to “check misinformation and bring out the truth” and alleged that attempts were being made to tarnish the image of the Ram temple.The SIT comprises Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, inspector general of police Kiran S and finance department special secretary Neel Ratan.According to news agency PTI, Yadav had earlier claimed that reports suggested crores of rupees from donations to the Ram temple were missing and urged courts to take suo motu cognisance of the issue.He had termed the matter “extremely sensitive” for devotees and questioned the silence of both the temple trust and the government.Responding to the allegations, trust general secretary Champat Rai had said internal audits were underway and that no evidence supporting the claims had surfaced so far.He had stated that representatives of the trust and the State Bank of India were involved in periodic audits and that nothing significant had been found during the ongoing exercise.The controversy escalated after former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh claimed he was aware of alleged misuse of donations but declined to disclose details.Senior BJP leader Rajneesh Singh also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking public disclosure of the trust’s finances, assets, donations, expenditures, bank accounts and land transactions.The trust has maintained that the inquiry would help establish facts and dispel rumours circulating on social media.(With inputs from PTI)
