Badrinath Temple Employee Arrested for Alleged Donation Theft

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Police have arrested Pramod Nautiyal, a suspended employee of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), in connection with the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath temple. Nautiyal was taken to Badrinath for questioning and is expected to be produced before a court following the interrogation, according to police sources.

The arrest follows a directive from the Uttarakhand government on June 25, which instructed the BKTC's chief executive officer to take action against officials and employees found responsible for financial irregularities. An inquiry had revealed that advance funds were released from the temple corpus without proper approval, constituting a financial irregularity. The inquiry report named the then Manager of Kedarnath, the then Chief In-charge Officer of Kedarnath, and the then Chief Executive Officer.

The alleged irregularities at Badrinath came to light on July 2 during the counting of cash offerings from devotees. A preliminary inquiry found that cash was removed from the counting area in violation of established procedures. An FIR was registered at Badrinath Police Station based on a complaint by BKTC In-charge Temple Officer Yudhvir Pushpwan. Statements from other officials, including CCTV control officer Panwar and Harender Kothari, who was present during the counting, have been recorded.

Meanwhile, Nautiyal has approached the Uttarakhand High Court challenging his suspension and the FIR. Justice Alok Mehra has directed the BKTC to file its response, with the next hearing scheduled for July 16.