Residents of 18 gram panchayats in Sundernagar, Balh and Sarkaghat, including 12 members of the Mariari Mata temple, recently trashed the clean chit given to the temple committee in the management of funds worth Rs 40 crore, as a cover-up exercise.

District language officer (DLO) and inquiry officer RK Saklani submitted his report to the Mandi DC in this regard. Residents have demanded a CBI probe and threatened to move the high court.

The DLO report claimed that “there is no major irregularity in the use of temple funds. DLO has addressed just three-year period from 2008 to 2011 and the inquiry report is just an advisory on how to manage accounts despite the Principal Secretary, Art Language and Culture, Manisha Nanda, has also ordered a probe.

But residents and other 12 committee members demanded a probe in the period starting from 1992 to 2011 in a charge-sheet submitted to the Mandi DC on July 15, 2011.

Via TribuneIndia