 probing the alleged Badrinath Temple donation theft has found that the arrested accused, Pramod Nautiyal){kind=link}
Police say CCTV footage shows the accused allegedly stealing cash during donation counting on four separate occasions as the investigation continues.
July 15, 2026: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged Badrinath Temple donation theft has found that the arrested accused, Pramod Nautiyal, was allegedly caught on CCTV stealing cash during donation counting on at least four occasions. According to Chamoli police, footage from June 22, June 25, June 29, and July 2 shows the accused concealing cash multiple times while supervising the counting process. Officials said 34 rounds of donation counting have taken place since the temple opened for the current pilgrimage season.
Pramod Nautiyal, a personal assistant in the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) chairman’s office, was arrested from Dehradun and later remanded to 14 days of judicial custody. Police said they have not yet recovered the allegedly stolen cash or gold and silver coins, except for a Shaligram stone. Investigators added that the accused denied the allegations during questioning, and the police plan to seek his custodial remand for further interrogation and recovery of the missing valuables.
The investigation has now widened after another individual was found behaving suspiciously during the donation counting process. Meanwhile, the BKTC has replaced the official overseeing donation counting and has constituted an internal committee to examine the matter. Alongside the police SIT probe, a high-level committee formed by the Uttarakhand government is also conducting an independent inquiry into the alleged theft.