Dehradun, July 15 -- The high level panel appointed to probe the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath dham reached the temple on Tuesday, officials said, adding that police were simultaneously widening their net, a day after a suspended Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) staffer was arrested for allegedly stealing valuables from the temple counting room. The state-appointed panel is led by Garhwal commissioner Anand Swaroop. "We observed the proceedings today. An FIR has already been registered, and the police are investigating the matter. If more facts or evidence emerge, we will act accordingly," he said. Badrinath station house officer (SHO) Mahadev Uniyal said the police probe is focused on establishing whether others were involved. "We have found suspicious actions by other employees in the CCTV footage examined earlier, but the allegations have not been established so far. We need to examine more footage, which will take some time," he said, adding that the total amount stolen was yet to be ascertained, and no recoveries were made so far. The accused employe Pramod Nautiyal, a personal assistant in the BKTC chairman's office who also handled VIP protocol and supervised the counting of donations and offerings, was arrested from his home in Dehradun. He joined the BKTC in 2003 and was regularised in service in 2014. On Monday, a Chamoli court remanded him to 14- day judicial custody. On July 9, he had moved the state high court seeking quashing of the FIR. The court has listed the matter for hearing on July 16. "The footage shows the accused repeatedly concealing cash and other offerings beneath his mobile phone and in his pockets before taking them out of the room," said district superintendent of police Surjeet Singh Panwar. "Our probe revealed that he misappropriated Rs.500 notes, packets containing gold and silver coins, a Shaligram stone and a packet of saffron," he added. A senior BKTC official said an internal committee has found indications that the accused had committed similar acts earlier. Uniyal said statements of at least six witnesses have been recorded and over 30 people questioned. An FIR was registered against Nautiyal at Badrinath police station on July 8, a day after he was suspended following a preliminary departmental inquiry that allegedly found irregularities in the handling of offerings. The case was registered under Sections 306 and 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The matter came to light on July 3 after the Hindu right-wing outfit Bhairav Sena Sangathan submitted a memorandum to the BKTC chief executive officer, demanding administrative action and registration of an FIR over the alleged theft of donations at the shrine. The organisation had warned of protests if strict action was not taken. The same day, the BKTC constituted a four-member internal panel to examine the matter and recommend corrective and punitive action....