The Special Investigation Team today began the second part of its probe into the multi-crore theft from Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Lawyers of Faizabad Bar Association have filed a complaint with police demanding FIR against Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. Meanwhile, Ayodhya Development Authority issued notice for demolition of an under construction building owned by one of the accused Lavkush Mishra. Ayodhya police has provided breakup of money recovered from the accused.
The total recovery till now is Rs 79.85 lakhs, out of which maximum Rs 20.39 lakhs was recovered from Avinash Shukla. This includes US $1121. Hailing from Pratapgarh, Avinash Shukla used to sell water on a handcart near the Ram Mandir till three months ago. His brother used to study at the Yoga Sansthan. Both of them came in touch with temple authorities and they were tasked with counting donation money.
Among the eight nabbed, Tinnu Yadav, right hand man of Champat Rai, is the richest. He owns three residential buildings and a big hostel. He is in partnership with others in running six hotels and restaurants. Only Rs 1 lakh cash was recovered from him. Investigators suspect he managed to hide his ill-gotten cash in time after getting whiff of a probe.
These looters did not even spare Rs 10 currency notes and Rs 5 coins donated by devotees! Among the thieves were a delivery boy, a handcart water seller and an auto driver. Now they own huge amount of money. During questioning, Champat Rai reportedly confessed that he blindly trusted Tinnu Yadav and the latter cheated him.
Champat Rai suspects it was Tinnu Yadav who leaked news about the discovery of theft to Samajwadi Party MLA Pawan Pandey. There were rumours about large scale theft since January, but Champat Rai did not take any step to stop the pilferage. In all, this seems to be a case of betrayal, deception and fraud. The RSS leadership trusted its old-timer Champat Rai, who was found guilty of negligence.
Champat Rai trusted Tinnu Yadav and Anil Mishra, and they betrayed him. Champat Rai confesses that he trusted the wrong people, but is unwilling to accept the fact that he did not listen to well-meaning advice from friends. Finally, a secret spycam was fitted inside the counting room and the accused were caught stuffing currency notes in their pockets.
Champat Rai was still unwilling to hand over these thieves to the police. A senior responsible person unwilling to punish the sinners, despite knowing that they stole the Lord’s money, is as much guilty as the culprits. For a person holding such a position, not only cheating, but getting cheated is also a crime. Committing a crime is not the only crime, hiding some one’s sin is also a crime.
Uttarakhand : New Madarsa law a welcome step
From July 1, Uttarakhand has implemented a new Minorities Education Act. Under this law, all minority educational institutions in the state, whether a madarsa or a Sanskrit gurukul or a Christian missionary school will have to get themselves registered with the Minorities Education Authority. Madarsas will be the most affected.
There were 952 madarsas in Uttarakhand, out of which nearly 250 were sealed by the government till December last year. Till now, 452 madarsas have registered themselves. More than 40,000 children study there. Only 52 madarsas impart education till Class 12. These students were only getting Islamic education till now. After completing education, they used to be employed as moulvis in mosques or as teachers in madarsas. There was no further scope for their employment elsewhere.
With the introduction of a new law, madarsas will have to impart all subjects approved by Uttarakhand State Education Board which include English, Hindi, Maths, Science and Social Science. Madarsas can impart Islamic education to their students in extra classes during afternoon. After studying these subjects, madarsa students can be eligible for higher education and they can become doctors, engineers or scientists. I think Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has taken a commendable step.
Bengal : Not fair to throw eggs
Calcutta High Court has directed West Bengal government to take measures to ensure eggs are not thrown at arrested persons and prepare guidelines for safe transporting of accused to courts or other places. A division bench of acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakrabarty directed the government to file FIR against such attackers and submit an action-taken report.
The high court said, “State has a responsibility to protect the accused from inhumanity and barbarity. The general public cannot take law in their own hands. The incidents of hurling eggs upon the accused …. need to be restricted ….It is the State’s obligation to extend due protection to the accused”, the bench observed. There has been a spate of attacks on TMC leaders by people who have been throwing rotten eggs and tomatoes, while being taken to court or police stations. I have said this earlier too and I want to repeat here.
Beating up an accused in the presence of police, or throwing eggs and tomatoes cannot be justified under any circumstance. This is a wrongful act and stern action must be taken. I think state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya’s argument that police cannot frisk each onlooker while taking accused to court, is fallacious. A government must display its majesty. If people come to know that police will send them to jail if they throw eggs, they will desist from doing so. Instead of inventing excuses, the state must put a stop to such nuisance.