Ayodhya, March 7: A former priest of a temple in Ayodhya was booked on Friday for allegedly selling the temple's land illegally to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, police said. Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust manages the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The accused, Rama Kant Pathak, illegally sold 21,198.8 square feet of Anand Bhawan Temple's land adjacent to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple complex to the trust for Rs 6 crore on September 21, 2024, according to a complaint filed at Kotwali police station in Faizabad. Financial Scam in Rajasthan: One Held for Online Fraud, Lured Victims by Sharing Fake Advertisements of Ladies’ Kurtis on Social Media.

The sale deed contained false information, it said. The complaint further stated that the Anand Bhawan Temple committee is registered with the sub-registrar's office, which explicitly states that no individual has the authority to transfer or sell temple property. It also revealed that Rama Kant Pathak was removed from his priestly duties in 2016 after his actions became suspicious over time. What Are QR Code Scams? How Can You Spot Fake QR Code and Be Safe From Scammers?.

When the committee came to know about the matter, they tried to file a case at the local police station a few months after the sale of the property. However, no action was taken then. Consequently, the complainant, Anand Prakash Pathak, a member of the temple's management committee, approached a court that ordered the registration of the case. An investigation is underway in the matter and further action will be taken accordingly, SHO Ashwini Pandey said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)