The Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee on Friday ordered an inquiry into allegations of misappropriation of donations at the Badrinath shrine in Uttarakhand, reported The Indian Express.All employees and officials involved in counting donations have been issued show-cause notices, ANI quoted the temple committee chairperson, Hemant Dwivedi, as saying.The development came days after allegations emerged that donations made to the Ram temple in Ayodhya had been embezzled.The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a Special Investigation Team at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple, and has initiated legal proceedings based on its recommendations. The SIT is expected to submit a final report next week.The allegations in Badrinath were made by Dehradun-based outfit Bhairav Sena, reported The Indian Express.Bhairav Sena had alleged on social media that Dwivedi’s personal assistant was involved in the alleged embezzlement, an unidentified official of the temple committee told the newspaper.However, Dwivedi said that he does not have a personal secretary, reported ANI. “The person being referred to as the ‘personal secretary’ is actually a regular employee of the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee,” he added.The temple committee’s Chief Executive Officer, Sohan Singh Rangad, said surveillance camera footage from the Badrinath temple premises had been reviewed on Friday However, nothing conclusive was found, reported The Indian Express.He added that the inquiry committee will submit its report based on available evidence, CCTV footage and statements from the parties concerned, PTI reported.Dwivedi said the inquiry committee’s report would be made public.Allegations in AyodhyaThe contents of the preliminary report submitted by the SIT on June 23 to the Uttar Pradesh government have not been made public.However, unidentified persons aware of its contents told The Indian Express that the report highlighted alleged lapses, inadequate supervision and negligence in the handling, maintenance and counting of donated cash and valuables.On June 25, a first information report was filed against eight persons based on a complaint by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. All eight accused have been arrested.They were booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to theft by a clerk or servant, criminal breach of trust, stolen property and criminal conspiracy.The accused had allegedly misappropriated donations collected through the donation boxes installed on the temple premises.A day after the arrests, the trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, and trustee Anil Mishra resigned from their posts on “moral grounds” amid the controversy.The Ram temple in Ayodhya was built on the site of the Babri Masjid, which was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born.In 2019, the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque was illegal but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be built.Edited by Sara Varghese. Also read:The RSS man at the centre of Ram temple trust’s controversial run in AyodhyaIn Ayodhya, it’s Sangh Parivar vs Sangh Parivar as Ram temple fund ‘theft’ charges blow up