New Delhi: A special investigation team comprising a high-ranked police officer and two senior officials will investigate the allegations of financial misappropriation of donations made at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Breaking a week of awkward silence, the Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday, June 13, constituted the SIT under intense political and internal pressure.Members of the Adityanath government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had initially either termed the allegations as an ‘internal matter’ of the trust that manages the temple or completely dismissed them as rumours spread by the opposition.However, while announcing the formation of the SIT, the government said the high-level investigation team was formed on the instructions of Chief Minister Adityanath on the “request” of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Curiously, however, neither the Trust nor its individual members made any such request or statement public. It is also not clear when such a “request” was made and on what grounds. Amid speculation of a confidential internal inquiry, the Trust had so far remained tight-lipped and publicly maintained that they had not come across any wrongdoing.A press note issued by the government said “rumours” were being spread on social media regarding donation boxes at the temple and credited Adityanath for taking them “seriously.”“According to the Trust, a detailed investigation is necessary to stop the rumours and bring out the truth. The Trust stated that this is a deep conspiracy to damage the image of the Teerth Kshetra and hurt the faith of millions of devotees, and thus it is essential to expose it,” UP government said.In a post on X, UP CM’s office said the government had constituted a three-member SIT “regarding the financial irregularities in the donation amount received by the Trust.” The SIT comprises Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Lucknow Range Kiran S, and Finance special secretary Neel Ratan.The SIT has been asked to submit a preliminary report in a week and its final findings in 15 days. “The team will conduct a thorough inquiry into the entire matter and submit its report to the government,” the government said.Meanwhile, The Telegraph has reported, citing unnamed sources that Rs 12 lakh was recovered from a temple staffer’s home. “The police broke the lock of a room and took away cash,” the staffer, Luvkush’s father Bacchu Lal Mishra told reporters at his home in Minapur Thakuran Fagauli village in Ayodhya district, the report said,‘All of this has been going on there all along’: SeerThe controversy had erupted on June 7 after Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that crores of rupees from the donations made to the Ram Mandir had gone missing. Yadav had demanded that courts take suo motu cognisance of the matter, stating that it was “directly linked to the deep faith in Lord Ram held by the entire Sanatan society at a global level.”In an apparent response to the formation of the SIT, Yadav on June 13 said, “If the police are incapable of finding out the culprit, then let us provide assistance.” Without naming anyone, the former chief minister took a swipe at those linked to the temple Trust. “‘The root of this conspiracy is not far away’ therefore, there will be no need to go somewhere far to take real action,” he said.Hindu seer Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of the Jyotish Peeth of Badrinath, while recently speaking at an event in Etah, had pointed fingers at Trust general secretary and senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Champat Rai for the alleged misappropriation.Avimukteshwarnanad took a personal dig at Rai when asked for his views on who should carry out the probe.“…[T]his latest theft – all of this has been going on there all along. After all, Champat Rai is the one presiding there. Do you know the meaning of ‘Champat’? The word is derived from the root ‘champ’; the very meaning of ‘champ’ in Sanskrit is to take something and flee. To go ‘Champat’ means to run away with something. In other words, when someone named Champat Rai has been installed there in the first place, you ought to understand exactly what is bound to happen,” said Avimukhteshwaranand.Responding to Yadav’s allegations, Rai had earlier said that the Trust undergoes periodic internal audits of its works and a similar process was currently on. He had, however, noted that “nothing noteworthy” had come to light so far. Rai has not made any public statements following the formation of the SIT.Nripendra Misra, the retired bureaucrat who is the chairman of the construction committee of the temple, landed in Ayodhya for the second time this week. However, when asked to comment on the purported internal inquiry into the allegations and if they would be raised during his tour, Mishra said he was in town to attend a meeting of the temple’s construction committee. “My responsibility is to oversee the construction work,” he said, distancing himself from the allegations.But while talking to reporters today, Misra hinted that the state government took the call to form an SIT within a day of receiving a request from the Trust. “The most important thing that should be appreciated is that the state government acted within less than 24 hours and constituted an SIT,” he said.Demands from within BJPThe Adityanath government’s decision to conduct a probe through an SIT falls short of the demands made by at least two persons associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.Rajneesh Singh, a dentist and BJP leader from Ayodhya, had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that an investigation be conducted by an independent and high-level agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Enforcement Directorate. Allahabad high court lawyer Murdli Dhar Singh, who is a member of BJP, had also written to Modi demanding an impartial investigation by a high-level central agency into the alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of donations. The advocate further demanded that an audit be carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.Kamal Nayan Das, successor to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president of the Trust had on June 10, spoken in favour of an investigation but cast aspersions on the members of the Trust carrying out the inquiry. “When the very people conducting the investigation are dishonest, what kind of investigation can there be? They are all dishonest,” Nayan Das said.Surya Pratap Shahi, a senior minister in the Adityanath government, had on June 12 described the allegations as an “internal matter” of the Trust. He said that the Trust would act in accordance with its regulations.“It is an independent body that will manage its own internal affairs. If it feels the state government should intervene in any matter, the state government will consider the request if it so desires,” Shahi said. Immediately after the controversy broke out, UP BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary had said, “This is not the government’s matter. The administration will respond to this.”Omar Rashid is an independent journalist.