Ram Temple Trust account: Rs 6 lakh fraudulently withdrawn

An amount of Rs 6 lakh has been fraudulently withdrawn from the bank account of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya.

An FIR has been lodged in this regard at the Ayodhya Kotwali police station. A team of cyber experts has also been asked to investigate the case.

According to the report, money was withdrawn from two banks in Lucknow by cheque cloning.

The matter came to light when the fraudster made a third attempt to withdraw Rs 9.86 lakh from the Bank of Baroda branch.

The bank manager made a verification call to Trust Secretary Champat Rai, who denied having issued any such cheque.

"On further inquiry, it was found that money had bene withdrawn earlier, too," said a police official.

A sum of Rs 2.5 lakhs was withdrawn from the bank on September 1 and then a sum of Rs 3.5 lakh, two days later.

Ayodhya circle officer Rajesh Kumar Rai said that a case had been registered and investigations were underway.

It may be recalled that a fake website that was seeking donations for the Ram temple had come to light a few days ago and the matter was being investigated.