Ayodhya land deal row: Ram temple Trust bought two more lands for Rs 3.5 crore

India Today has accessed documents revealing two more deals where two lands worth Rs 47 lakh were sold to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for Rs 3.5 crore. The lands were sold by Deep Narayan Upadhyay, who is the nephew of Ayodhya's Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay.

Amid the ongoing controversy around the land purchase for Ayodhya's Ram temple, India Today has uncovered two more such deals where two lands worth Rs 47 lakh were sold to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for Rs 3.5 crore. According to the documents accessed by India Today, the two lands were bought by one Deep Narayan Upadhyay for Rs 20 lakh and Rs 27 lakh. These two lands were then sold to the Trust for Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively. Deep Narayan is the nephew of Ayodhya's Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay. On February 20 this year, Deep Narayan bought the 890 square metres land -- under Gata Number 135 at Kot Ramchandra, Haveli Awadh in Sadar Tehsil -- from Mahant Devendra Prasad Acharya of Ayodhya for Rs 20 lakh. According to the property's circle rate, which is the minimum rate of sale decided by local authorities, the value of this purchased land was estimated at Rs 35.6 lakh.