Badrinath Temple donation theft case: SIT arrests alleged accused Pramod Nautiyal from Uttarakhand's Dehradun

The Special Investigation Team SIT on Monday arrested Pramod Nautiyal an alleged accused in the Badrinath Temple donation theft case from Dehradun Uttarakhand Police saidThe accused is scheduled to be produced before the Gopeshwar court on Tuesday for further legal proceedings reported ANISIT tracks down accused after surveillance operationAccording to Uttarakhand Police multiple teams were formed to trace Nautiyal who was located in DehradunFollowing this an SIT team was sent to the spot and after around an hour of questioning arrested him between 945 pm and 1015 pm on Sunday July 12The SIT will seek his police custody officials saidCCTV footage allegedly shows suspicious activityThe case relates to alleged theft and irregularities involving donations at the Badrinath Temple one of the countryrsquos most revered shrinesFollowing reports of discrepancies in donation handling state authorities formed an SIT to conduct a detailed investigation and identify those involvedEarlier Uttarakhand Police claimed that CCTV footage showed suspended BadrinathKedarnath Temple Committee BKTC employee Nautiyal allegedly ldquosuspiciously hiding or stealingrdquo cash gold and silver coins Shaligram stones and offering envelopes from the templersquos donation counting roomAccording to police Nautiyal was seen making repeated trips between the donation counting room and his office leading investigators to suspect that the allegedly stolen items were being concealed thereldquoThe accused Pramod Nautiyal is seen suspiciously hiding or stealing bundles of Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes along with gold and silver coins Shaligram stones and envelopes of offerings estimated to contain Rs 10000 to Rs 12000 Furthermore while doing so he is seen going back and forth between his office and the counting room two to three timesrdquo Uttarakhand Police said reported ANIPolice added that the sequence of events was observed in CCTV footage from July 2Investigation began after donation counting irregularitiesThe investigation began after alleged irregularities were detected during the counting of cash offerings made by devotees at the Badrinath Temple on July 2A preliminary inquiry reportedly found that cash had been removed from the counting area in violation of established proceduresAn FIR was registered at the Badrinath Police Station following a complaint filed by BKTC Incharge Temple Officer Yudhvir Pushpwan His statement was recorded by the SITStatements of other BKTC officials including CCTV control officer Panwar and Harender Kothari who was present during the donation counting process were also recorded as part of the investigation reported ANINautiyal challenges suspension and FIR in High CourtMeanwhile Nautiyal has approached the Uttarakhand High Court challenging his suspension and the FIR registered against himThe matter was heard by Justice Alok Mehra who directed the BKTC to file its response The next hearing is scheduled for July 16Multiple agencies probing temple donation caseThe case is currently being investigated by the Uttarakhand Police SIT the BKTC departmental inquiry committee and a highlevel committee headed by the Garhwal CommissionerWith ANI inputs