By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Pramod Nautiyal, a personal assistant in the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has been arrested in connection with the alleged financial irregularities involving offerings and donations at the famous Badrinath temple, police said on Monday.
The arrest came amid a multi-agency probe which is underway in the sordid alleged thefts of offerings in Badrinath, one of the most revered Hindu shrines.
Nautiyal, was arrested late Sunday night from his residence in Nehru Colony in Dehradun by a Chamoli police team. He has been brought to Badrinath for questioning.
The alleged irregularities came to light on July 2 after videos and allegations surfaced on social media claiming misappropriation of devotees’ offerings at the temple. The BKTC subsequently constituted a four-member inquiry committee, whose preliminary report found prima facie evidence supporting the allegations.
Based on the findings, Nautiyal, who was serving as the personal assistant in the office of the BKTC chairman, was suspended on July 7. Later that night, the committee lodged a complaint with the police, leading to the registration of a case under Sections 306 (theft by an employee of property belonging to the employer) and 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by a trustee or person in a fiduciary position) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The arrest was made on the basis of evidence collected during the investigation, including inspection of the scene, statements of the complainant and witnesses, and CCTV footage from the temple’s counting room recorded on July 2.
The CCTV footages allegedly show Nautiyal repeatedly concealing cash and other offerings beneath his mobile phone and inside his pockets before taking them out of the counting room.
The BKTC is a statutory government body responsible for managing the Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines, along with several other temples in Uttarakhand.
The arrest has triggered a political slugfest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress.
Taking serious note of the allegations, the Uttarakhand government last week constituted a three-member high-level inquiry committee headed by Garhwal Commissioner Anand Swaroop on the directions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. The panel has been asked to submit its report within 15 days and recommend measures to strengthen the management and transparency of offerings and donations at the temples.