Ayodhya: A fresh case of land fraud has surfaced in the temple town, as police lodged an FIR against priest Ramakant Pathak for allegedly selling Naya Anand Bhavan Temple land to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust using forged documents.
The complaint was filed by Anand Prakash Pathak, the temple’s caretaker, who asserted that the centuries-old religious property was ineligible for private transactions. Ramakant Pathak, initially appointed to perform temple rituals, was dismissed for misconduct and ordered to vacate the premises by a Faizabad court in 2016. However, he continued to occupy the land illegally and allegedly colluded with revenue officials to falsify ownership records.
On September 21, 2024, Pathak is accused of selling 21,198.8 sq ft of temple land to the Trust for ₹6 crore, despite prior cancellation of fraudulent land records in 2019. Investigations revealed that he forged documents in 1995, fraudulently replacing the original founder’s name with his own.
After multiple complaints went unregistered, a civil court intervened, directing Kotwali Nagar police to file an FIR under cheating, forgery, and fraud sections. Police have initiated an inquiry into the land scam.
Authorities are now examining evidence to determine further legal action in the fraudulent land transfer case.
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