YouTuber Karthik Gopinath gets bail in temple fund collection case

Karthik had been arrested for collecting money on Milaap for the Siruvachur Mathura Kaliamman temple, without permission from the Tamil Nadu HE&CE Department.
Rightwing youtuber Karthik Gopinath
Rightwing youtuber Karthik Gopinath
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YouTuber Karthik Gopinath, who was arrested around two weeks ago for allegedly collecting funds illegally in the name of temples managed by the Tamil Nadu government, has secured bail from a court in Tamil Nadu. TNM had reported on how he had been arrested on May 30, for collecting money on the popular fundraising platform Milaap for the Siruvachur Mathura Kaliamman temple, without permission from the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department of the government, which is in charge of managing the temple. The police had also said that he had collected money in his personal account for the same.

The Hindu Charities Department had said in its complaint filed with the Central Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that Karthik had collected ‘lakhs of rupees’ for renovating a temple owned by the Hindu Temples Department.

Following his arrest, Karthik had moved a bail petition in a local court in Poonamallee, Tamil Nadu. The magistrate heard his plea and granted him bail. More details of the conditions imposed by the court while granting him bail will be known once the order is released. 

Karthik Gopinath runs a popular right-wing YouTube channel called Ilaya Bharatham. This is the second bail application filed by him. His first bail application was rejected last week. 

Karthik had been booked under sections 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); and 66(D) (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology (IT) Act. According to a complaint filed by T Aravindhan, who is the executive officer of Mathura Kaliamman Temple in Siruvachur of Perambulur, Karthik had sought funds on MIlaap website, with the claim that the money would be used for “renovation of the statues” in the temple. The temple executive had also said that Karthik did not have the permission to collect funds in the name of the government-run temple, and he did not remit the money to the HR&CE despite multiple notices. 

Meanwhile BJP Chief K Annamalai has welcomed the bail granted to Karthik. Taking to Twitter, he said, “Happy to know Shri @karthikgnath is granted bail today. One more slap on the  @arivalayam govt for foisting false cases on people the DMK ecosystem doesn’t like.  Let his service continue for all Dharmic Causes! (sic).”

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