Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai termed the charges as "misleading and motivated by political hatred".
Refuting the allegation of fraud by Opposition parties in purchasing land worth at an inflated price for the Ram temple premises, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai termed the charges as "misleading and motivated by political hatred".
In a statement issued around midnight on Sunday, Rai replied to the Oppositions' allegations and said that all lands that Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra has purchased so far have been bought at a price much less than the open market cost.
The statement, signed by Rai, said, "After the Supreme Court order, a lot of people started coming to Ayodhya to purchase land, and as the UP government is also purchasing a lot of land for development works, the land price increased suddenly. The land on which discussion has started is very close to the railway station and therefore, is at a very important location. All the land purchased by the Trust is purchased at a price much lower than the market price."
Backgrounder: Corruption allegations by Opposition
Earlier on Sunday, Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan Pandey made corruption allegations against Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and sought a CBI probe into the matter.
"The Trust purchased a piece of land, which had been bought in Rs 2 crores just 10 minutes before, in Rs 18.5 crores on March 18," he alleged.
He also said that Trust member Anil Mishra and Mayor of Ayodhya Rishikesh Upadhyay are witnesses in both the sale agreements.
Taking to Twitter, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh, also made similar allegations.
Attaching several documents with the Tweet, Singh said: "Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari bought land worth Rs 2 crores at 7:10 pm. At 7:15 pm, Champat Rai of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust bought this land from them for Rs 18.5 crores."
According to the documents provided by AAP and Samajwadi Party leaders, the land over which the alleged fraudulent deal happened is a residential plot of 12,080 square metres. The papers state the property is located in Bagbijaisi village, Haveli Awadh, under Sadar tehsil in Ayodhya.
Trust slams allegations
The Trust statement, however, said the propaganda by political people on the issue was misleading. "Some political leaders are misleading people. It is meant to mislead society, the people concerned are political and hence motivated by political hatred," Rai said.
The statement also claimed that all the sale and purchase is done by proper communication and agreement, and signatures are taken on agreement papers.
"All the court fees and stamp paper purchase are done online and the amount is transferred into the bank account of the seller through online transaction," it said.
While Sultan Ansari - one of the two property dealers who sold the piece of land to the Trust - did not respond to calls, Ravi Mohan Tiwari said the agreement for the said land was made with the Pathaks several years ago for Rs 2 crore, but its value increased significantly after the Supreme Court decision, reported IANS.
"While I purchased it for Rs 2 crore as per my agreement, the actual price must be more than Rs 20 crore now. But I sold it for just Rs 18.5 crore because it is for a project concerned with our faith," said Tiwari.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra is a Trust that was set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in February 2020 to oversee and manage the construction of the temple based on a Supreme Court verdict.
It was awarded around 70 acres of land in the ruling and 12 of its 15 members are nominated by the Centre.
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