DEHRADUN: In the first major breakthrough in the ongoing Badrinath temple donation theft controversy, the Uttarakhand Police have arrested suspended Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) employee Pramod Nautiyal from his residence.
Chamoli Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Surjeet Singh Panwar confirmed that the arrest took place on Sunday night. Nautiyal was subsequently taken to Badrinath, where he is currently being interrogated by the police.
Nautiyal, who previously served as the personal assistant to the BKTC president, was booked late Tuesday night after a formal FIR was registered against him. The temple committee had already suspended him prior to the arrest.
The enforcement action comes after a four-member internal inquiry committee set up by the BKTC concluded in its preliminary findings that the allegations regarding irregularities in the management of temple donations appeared true on the face of it. The BKTC is a statutory body responsible for managing the Badrinath temple alongside other prominent shrines and religious sites across Uttarakhand.
Taking note of the escalating controversy, the Uttarakhand government had also constituted a separate three-member probe panel last week. Headed by the Garhwal Divisional Commissioner, this committee is tasked with submitting its detailed investigation report and recommendations directly to the state government.
The scandal first triggered a public outcry when allegations of misappropriation during the counting of temple offerings and donations surfaced on social media. Following the online outrage, an organization named ‘Bhairav Sena’ filed an official complaint demanding a thorough investigation and registration of an FIR, which initiated the police crackdown.
