Ayodhya/ Lucknow, June 14 (UNI): Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, ruling out financial anomalies in the land deed as alleged by opposition leaders, claimed that agreement for the said land was signed in 2017 much before the Supreme Court allowed construction of the temple in Ayodhya.
The general secretary of the Trust, Champat Rai, said in a statement here on Monday that the trust has bought land at a price much less than the market rate.
Rai said the Trust is buying land to expand the region around Ram Lalla temple. “To make travel accessible we needed land around the temple complex. We bought land which had houses and temples. The trust has decided to settle these people elsewhere. In view of this, the trust bought Gata number 243, 244 and 246 (area 12080 square meters) so that the displaced could be settled there,” he added.
The SP leader Pawan Pandey and AAP MP Sanjay Singh had alleged ‘scam’ on purchase of that land saying the land was first bought at Rs two crore and within 10 minutes the same land was sold at Rs 18.50 crore.
Rai said the initial agreement for the said land was done in the year 2017 for Rs 2.16 crore of which Rs 92 lakh was paid in advance. “It is clear that the price of the land was evaluated at the 2017 rate when the price of the land was low. After the verdict of Ram Janmabhoomi on November 9, 2019, the price of the land increased almost 10 times, so the price of the said land increased almost 9 times when the Trust bought it,” Rai told reporters.
Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi, said the allegations levelled by the Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party leaders are politically motivated.
Ayodhya DM Anuj Kumar Jha said the land purchased by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Bagh Bijaisi locality is at a prime location. “The main gate of Ayodhya railway station is to be built there and thus soon it will become the biggest commercial hub,” he added.
