Ram temple trust contests charge of shady land deal

AYODHYA: Stung by allegations of irregularities in a land deal linked to the extension of the premises of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra has dismissed talk of the trust acquiring the plot at over nine times its market price as “politically motivated and misleading”.
Hours after AAP MP Sanjay Singh and ex-SP MLA Pawan Pandey alleged that the trust bought 12,000 sq m of land valued at Rs 2 crore for Rs 18.5 crore, trust general secretary Champat Rai pointed out that land prices in Ayodhya had increased manifold since the SC’s 2019 verdict in the Ram JanmabhoomiBabri Masjid title dispute.
“The land’s present rate is almost Rs 5,000 per sq ft. So, for the 12000 square meters, its price is around Rs 60 crore,” another member said.
In 2017, the land’s original owners — Kusum Pathak and Harish Kumar Pathak — had entered into an agreement with Sultan Ansari, Ravi Mohan Tewari and others to sell the plot for Rs 2 crore. Then, Rs 92 lakh was paid to the Pathaks.
On March 18 2021, the agreement was cancelled and a registry was executed between them, after which Ansari and Tewari became the owners. They sold the plot to the trust for Rs 18.5 crore. “After SC verdict, the price of land has increased over 20 times,” the member said.