In a significant development in the Shri Badrinath Dham donation theft case, it has been discovered that the crucial 32 days of CCTV footage, essential for the investigation, are unavailable. Initially, it was reported that 45 days of footage from Shri Badrinath Dham were retained as evidence in the alleged misappropriation of offerings and donation funds. The investigation team has not yet obtained the CCTV recordings for those 32 days, with efforts underway to recover the deleted footage.
The departmental inquiry team assigned to probe the alleged misappropriation of donations at Shri Badrinath Dham has concluded its investigation and submitted an 18-page report to the CEO. The preliminary findings suggest that theft of devotees’ offerings and valuables occurred on multiple occasions, not just once. The report also includes recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future, such as installing additional CCTV cameras in the temple’s donation counting room and covering all blind spots with surveillance.
The inquiry team managed to retrieve footage dating back 14 days before the incident on July 2, as the storage capacity of the previously installed CCTV cameras was limited to 15 days due to their inferior quality. The footage from July 2 shows the alleged accused misappropriating money, while segments from the preceding 14 days are also deemed significant. The Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee took decisive action on July 7 by suspending Pramod Nautiyal, a Personal Assistant in the Chairman’s office, to maintain discipline and administrative transparency.
The committee had earlier set up a four-member panel to conduct an unbiased investigation into the matter. Pramod Nautiyal faced allegations of serious irregularities in the discharge of official duties, leading to his immediate suspension following a show-cause notice issued on July 3. The committee’s inquiry panel, after examining clarifications and the preliminary report, found the allegations against Nautiyal to be prima facie correct.
