Thursday, 29 August 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Accusing the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) and the State government spreading lies and creating confusion on the issue of gold plating in sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath shrine, the leader of opposition (LoP) in State Assembly Yashpal Arya has demanded that the report of the investigation committee set up by the government on the subject should be made public. Reacting to the statement of cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj in which he had said that since the donor had donated only 23 kg of gold there is no truth in the allegation that 228 kg gold is missing from Kedarnath.
Arya said that before the closure of the portals in October 2022 it was published in newspapers that 228 kg gold was used in plating the walls in Kedarnath. He said that the BKTC should have refuted such news items. Arya said that it is learnt that the BKTC president had sent a letter to the union home minister demanding security in view of the gold plating of the temple.
The LoP said that the members of the BKTC had requested the chief minister to set up an investigation committee in the issue and the cabinet minister Maharaja had directed the secretary of his department on June 23 to conduct an investigation.
He said that the process of putting gold was completed before the closure of the portals of Kedarnath for winters on October 26-27, 2022 and after the closure no one is allowed to enter the temple. Arya said that the temple committee has released a document which shows February 15, 2023, as the date for receiving the gold. The date mentioned on the document is of the period when the gold was already plated on the walls of the Dham and when it was closed. It raises question marks over the entire process, he said. Arya demanded that the Kedarnath gold scam should be investigated by either the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Enforcement Directorate (ED).
