Pramod Nautiyal, one of the prime accused in the Badrinath temple donation theft case, was arrested at his residence by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Sunday. A laptop and a ‘Shaligram’ stone, which had gone missing, have also been recovered.
Nautiyal was an employee at the temple, serving as the personal assistant to the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) chairman. After a complaint was filed by Yudhveer Pushpan, an in-charge temple officer, an initial inquiry found financial irregularities in the thali offerings at the temple.
The report alleged that Nautiyal removed temple donation funds from the thali-offering site between 9:00am and 9:30am on July 2. An FIR was filed against Pramod Nautiyal on Tuesday night after the BKTC found the allegations against him prima facie true.
He was booked under BNS (306), which deals with theft by a clerk or servant of property in the employer’s possession and BNS 316(5), which deals with the criminal breach of trust by people in positions of responsibility. Upon questioning, Nautiyal denied all the allegations against him and was suspended until a proper investigation was conducted.
However, the police have stated that they seized CCTV footage from the donation room, in which Pramod is allegedly seen in a suspicious manner, stealing cash, gold coins, and a ‘Shaligram’ stone.
After a thorough investigation SIT, headed by Senior Superintendent Chamoli, on Monday said that they recovered the ‘Shaligram’ stone and a laptop from the accused. But no cash has been recovered from the accused.
The Badrinath-Kedarnath temple donation case gained attention after allegations of irregularities had surfaced on social media. Following this, an organisation called Bhairav Sena had filed a complaint, demanding an inquiry and registration of the case. The case started with an internal inquiry and was progressively taken up by the police. Nautiyal had approached the High Court and legally challenged the FIR before his arrest.
