Ram temple trust bought another land parcel directly from owners for Rs 8 crore, says report

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust bought two land parcels for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on March 18 at prices of Rs 18.5 crore and Rs 8 crore from separate buyers, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

The owners of the two parcels of land – which are sized 1.208 hectares and 1.037 hectares – were Harish Pathak and Kusum Pathak, both named in the sale deed of November 2017. One hectare of land equals 10,000 square metres.

On March 18, the Ram temple trust bought the larger parcel of land – 1.208 hectares – for Rs 18.5 crore from two individuals, Sultan Ansari and property dealer Ravi Mohan Tiwari. However, these two had bought the land from the Pathaks for just Rs 2 crore.

The Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party had on Sunday alleged that this 1.208 hectares of land, valued at Rs 5.8 crore, was first bought for Rs 2 crore and then sold to the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust for Rs 18.5 crore. The two parties had levelled corruption allegations in connection with the land purchase deal and have demanded an investigation into it.

The Trust has denied the corruption charges.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Trust had also purchased the smaller plot, 1.037 hectares, of land directly…

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