An FIR was lodged in Ayodhya on Thursday over allegations of embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, officials said.
The FIR comes amid an ongoing probe into the matter by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which submitted a preliminary report of its findings to the Uttar Pradesh government two days ago.
A police official confirmed to PTI on Thursday that the FIR has been lodged.
A senior official told PTI that the SIT has made some “strong, strict" recommendations and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also “very serious" on the matter.
“Whosoever is found guilty would be sternly dealt with," the officer said, explaining the sequence of events that led to the FIR.
The state government constituted the SIT on June 13 at the request of the temple trust, following allegations of misappropriation of donations received at the Ayodhya Ram temple.
The SIT comprises Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S and Finance Department Special Secretary Neel Ratan.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the officials said.
According to police, the case has been registered under sections 306 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 317 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), among other penal provisions.
The officials said the FIR was lodged following recommendations made in the SIT’s preliminary report.
The development came hours after the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) joined the growing demand for an FIR over the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple, even as senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, reached the temple town on Thursday evening, demanding that a case be lodged.
