Lucknow: Champat Rai Friday offered to resign as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, taking moral responsibility for alleged misappropriation of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Temple hours after police arrested all eight people named in the FIR.
Another trust member, Anil Mishra, who is under the scanner, has also offered to step down, according to government sources.
This comes days after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case submitted its preliminary findings to the Yogi Adityanath government.
An FIR was registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station on a complaint filed by the temple trust Thursday, naming eight accused, while the role of several other unidentified persons is also under investigation.
Although neither Champat Rai (89) nor Anil Mishra was named in the FIR, both had been facing sustained allegations in connection with the controversy. The SIT has also investigated them during the probe.
According to UP police officers, the FIR names eight individuals: Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav (Champat Rai’s former driver), Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash, Karunesh and Lavkush Mishra.
They have been booked under section 306 (theft by clerk or servant, or by a person employed in a position of trust), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 317 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, banker, merchant, agent etc) and 61 ( criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Who are Champat Rai & Anil Mishra
Champat Rai, who is also vice-president of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), has been one of the key figures associated with the Ram Temple movement. A former chemistry professor at ASM Degree College in UP’s Bijnor district, he was actively involved with the RSS and the Ram Temple movement even during his academic career.
According to people familiar with his journey, Rai spent nearly 18 months in various jails during the Ram Temple agitation. After his release, he resigned from his teaching job and dedicated himself full-time to the VHP.
He moved to Ayodhya in 1991 as the VHP’s regional organisation secretary, when the Ram Temple movement was at its peak. Over the years, he rose in the organisation, becoming the VHP’s central minister (Kendriye mantri) in 1996, later serving as its joint general secretary and international general secretary.
When the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was formed in 2020 by the government as required under the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya judgement, Rai was entrusted with overseeing the construction of the Ram Temple. He has since played a central role in the project.
Anil Mishra, meanwhile, is a homeopathic doctor with a BHMS degree. He has had a long association with the RSS, serving as a volunteer before rising to positions such as Sah Prant Karyavah and later Awadh Prant Karyavah.
Before retiring from government service in 2019, Mishra worked as a Homeopathic Medical Officer in Sultanpur and Gonda districts. Following his retirement, he devoted himself full time to organisational work. After the formation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust in 2020, he became one of its senior members and remained closely involved with the trust’s activities.
According to sources, the SIT’s preliminary report has recommended restructuring the Ram Temple Trust’s administrative management, including appointing a senior government officer as chief executive officer (CEO) to oversee the temple’s administration.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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