Faizabad Bar Association seeks FIR against Champat Rai, others

New Delhi: Lawyers of Faizabad Bar Association took out a procession in Ayodhya city on Thursday, protesting against the alleged embezzlement of donation money at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

They submitted a complaint to the police seeking registration of an FIR against Champat Rai, the recently resigned general secretary of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. They also demanded action against former trust member Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao, who is associated with temple management.

The name of Krishna Mohan, a trustee who is the complainant in the first FIR in the donation theft case, has also been mentioned in the lawyers' complaint to the police, PTI reported citing Faizabad Bar Association chief Kalika Prasad Mishra.


The lawyers, who marched from the court premises to the Ram Janambhoomi police station, insisted on immediate registration of a case. Police tried to pacify them by giving assurance that the complaint would be examined, and appropriate action would be taken.

Later in the day, Ayodhya police took jailed accused Avinash Shukla into custody on a 24-hour remand for further questioning, sources said.

Shukla, who was associated with counting offerings at the temple, was produced before a court, which granted the police his custody for 24 hours, the sources said. The remand is expected to help investigators probe the alleged diversion of donations, trace the money trail and identify other persons who may have been involved in the case, they said.

Ayodhya Development Authority has, in the meanwhile, served a notice to the wife of Lavkush Mishra, an accused in the case, over alleged unauthorised construction of a house under her name, PTI reported, citing official and police sources.