Badrinath Temple Committee Pramod Nautiyal Arrested Donation Theft

An official in the office of the chairman of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee has been arrested in Uttarakhand for allegedly misappropriating temple donations, police said Monday.

According to Chamoli Police, the official was accused of misappropriating ‘thali bhent’ (plate offerings) at Badrinath Dham. On July 8, Yudhveer Pushpwan, officer-in-charge of the Badrinath Temple, on behalf of the BKTC, submitted a written complaint at Badrinath Police Station. The complaint stated that after information was received regarding financial irregularities during the counting of ‘thali bhent’ donations on July 2, the chairman of the temple committee ordered a departmental inquiry.

An SIT arrested Pramod Nautiyal from his residence in Dehradun late Sunday. He was produced in court. “The investigation further found that, at different times, the accused allegedly removed Rs 500 currency notes, packets containing gold and silver coins, a Shaligram stone, and a packet of saffron from the counting room and illegally took them into his possession. Statements of the complainant and other relevant witnesses have been recorded. Based on the CCTV footage and other documentary evidence, the police said they had gathered sufficient evidence against the accused,” the Chamoli police said in a statement.

According to the police, preliminary inquiry found prima facie evidence that Nautiyal, an employee of the temple committee, had illegally taken temple cash and other offerings from the donation counting room for his personal benefit. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Badrinath Police Station for theft by clerk or servant and aggravated criminal breach of trust of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh Panwar said that an SIT was constituted under the supervision of DSP. During the investigation, the SIT inspected the scene, recorded statements of the complainant and other witnesses, and examined the CCTV footage from the donation counting room recorded on July 2. “The footage allegedly showed accused Pramod Nautiyal repeatedly taking cash and other offerings out of the counting room by concealing them beneath his mobile phone and in his pockets,” the police have said.

The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) had earlier taken disciplinary action by suspending Nautiyal. According to the order issued by the committee, a show-cause notice was served to Nautiyal on July 3, after allegations of irregularities in the discharge of his official duties came to light.

On July 10, Nautiyal had moved the Uttarakhand High Court after the FIR seeking relief in the matter. The high court had asked the state counsel to get instructions and listed it on July 16.

Aiswarya Raj is a Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, covering Uttarakhand. She brings sound journalistic experience to her role, having started her career at the organisation as a sub-editor with the Delhi city team. She subsequently developed her reporting expertise by covering Gurugram and its neighbouring districts before transitioning to her current role as a resident correspondent in Dehradun. She is an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) and the University of Kerala. She has reported on the state politics, governance, environment and wildlife, and gender. Aiswarya has undertaken investigations using the Right to Information Act on law enforcement, public policy and procurement rules in Uttarakhand. She has also attempted narrative journalism on socio-economic matters affecting local communities. This specific, sustained focus on critical regional news provides the necessary foundation for high trustworthiness and authoritativeness on topics concerning Uttarakhand. ... Read More