He had provided accommodation to journalists from India and abroad who had gathered in Ayodhya to cover the Ram Mandir movement.The hotel, located opposite the office of the newly- created Ayodhya Municipal Corporation, was established in 1986. "More than 100 journalists from India and abroad were staying in the hotel. "Most of the journalists staying here used the STD facility of the hotel and dictated the news to their editorial colleagues. "The then district magistrate Ravindra Kumar Srivastava told me to leave the place: 'Pandey jee, yehaan se hat jaaiye'. I was amazed to see that people were eager to take the stones of the debris, as if it was gold.

Source: Economic Times December 03, 2017 06:33 UTC