Following public outrage over viral social media allegations, a Special Investigation Team apprehended the suspended personal assistant after CCTV footage captured the systematic removal of cash, gold, and sacred relics.
DEHRADUN — In a major breakthrough in the high-profile Badrinath Dham donation scam, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Chamoli Police arrested suspended temple official Pramod Nautiyal from his residence late Sunday night.
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Nautiyal, who served as the Personal Assistant to the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) chairman, is the primary target in an expanding probe into financial leaks at the Himalayan shrine. Investigators confirmed he was transferred directly to Badrinath for intensive questioning before an expected appearance in a Gopeshwar court on Monday afternoon.
1. The Evidence: Damning Counting Room Footage
The structural integrity of the case rests on highly detailed closed-circuit television logs captured on July 2 during the standard processing of devotee offerings.
SIT Evidence Log Against Pramod Nautiyal:
💵 Bundles of ₹100 and ₹500 currency notes systematically hidden
🪙 Sovereign gold and silver coins removed from the table
🪨 Sacred 'Shaligram' stones extracted from the repository
🚪 2 to 3 unapproved trips recorded between the counting room & personal office
According to a formal statement by Chamoli Senior Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar, the surveillance footage clearly documents Nautiyal manipulating cash bundles and envelopes of offerings. Police believe Nautiyal used his proximity to the counting tables to hide cash and precious items on his person, moving them back and forth to his administrative desk.
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SIT Recovery Status: While Nautiyal has denied all charges during initial processing, investigators have recovered a laptop and a sacred Shaligram stone from his property. No missing cash corpus has been recovered yet, prompting the SIT to seek extended custody to trace the financial trail.
2. A Broad Crackdown on Temple Corpus Mismanagement
Nautiyal’s arrest comes amid a massive regulatory crackdown ordered by the Uttarakhand state government. The Ministry of Tourism and Religious Affairs expanded its scrutiny across the entire BKTC administrative structure following a separate inquiry into VIP guest logistics at Kedarnath.
Multi-Tiered Investigations Into BKTC Management
| Investigating Agency | Specific Operational Mandate | Current Action Items |
| Special Investigation Team (SIT) | Criminal theft execution and recovering stolen assets. | Analyzing July 2 forensic video; recording witness testimony from CCTV control officer Panwar. |
| Garhwal Commissioner Committee | High-level 3-member state panel evaluating structural compliance. | Reviewing three years of comprehensive BKTC bank accounts to trace unauthorized fund flows. |
| BKTC Departmental Panel | Internal workplace integrity under the Temple Committee Act of 1939. | Initiating immediate administrative suspensions; rewriting cash-counting security protocols. |
3. The Legal and Political Fallout
The scandal surfaced after local citizen coalitions and an organization named ‘Bhairav Sena’ posted details of the counting anomalies on social media, forcing the temple board to take quick action. An official FIR was subsequently filed by BKTC In-charge Temple Officer Yudhvir Pushpwan under charges of aggravated criminal breach of trust and theft by a servant.
Escalation Timeline of the Badrinath Corruption Probe
The investigation has rapidly evolved from internet complaints to top-tier government cleanups within two weeks.
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As criminal teams build their custody cases, Nautiyal has launched a legal counter-offensive. He moved the Uttarakhand High Court to challenge both his suspension and the active FIR. Justice Alok Mehra has ordered the BKTC to file a formal explanation of its evidence collection, with the next critical high court hearing scheduled for July 16.
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