DEHRADUN: Amid the escalating controversy surrounding the alleged embezzlement of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has ordered a high-level internal inquiry into claims of misappropriation of offerings and donations received at the Himalayan shrine of Shri Badrinath Dham. The swift administrative reaction comes within 24 hours of targeted allegations surfacing and circulating aggressively across social media platforms.

BKTC Chairman Hemant Dwivedi stated that the temple governance body has initiated an impartial, fact-based investigation into the matter to shield the structural faith reposed by millions of Hindu devotees. “Our Chief Executive Officer has already served strict show-cause notices to all secular and administrative employees involved in the currency counting process. If any institutional staff member is found guilty post-probe, uncompromising penal and service rules will be enforced under the provisions of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Act, 1939,” Dwivedi assured via a video press statement.

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Complaint by Bhairav Sena Activist: The institutional friction came to light after Sandeep Khatri, the founding president of the right-wing outfit Bhairav Sena, dispatched an official complaint letter on July 3 to BKTC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sohan Singh Rangad. The letter claimed that a regular staffer—alleged to be the personal assistant to the BKTC Chairman—pilfered substantial cash reserves directly from the ‘Thali’ (offering plate) inventory during the routine counting session at around 8:30 AM on July 2. The complainant demanded an immediate criminal FIR registration and a comprehensive audit of the CCTV archives.

According to internal roster registries, the accused employee, Pramod Nautiyal, was formally inducted into the offering counting panel through an administrative mandate issued on April 9, 2026, by the then-CEO Vishal Mishra. Nautiyal has reportedly served as a personal assistant within the BKTC since 2014 under successive leadership panels. However, Chairman Dwivedi explicitly rejected any personalized links, clarifying that the accused is a routine payroll employee of the committee rather than his private attache. Meanwhile, CEO Sohan Singh Rangad noted that preliminary reviews of the CCTV footage yielded low clarity, urging public restraint against treating social media accusations as established facts until the newly instated fact-finding panel submits its final report.

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