Lucknow: Eight people have been arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, days after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) submitted its preliminary findings to the Uttar Pradesh government.
According to police, the accused were associated with the process of counting cash and valuables donated by devotees at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. They were arrested in Ayodhya on Thursday night and are being questioned before being produced before a magistrate.
The case has been registered under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges related to theft by an employee, criminal breach of trust, dishonestly receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.
Those arrested have been identified as Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramshankar Yadav, also known as Tinnu.
According to police, the accused were involved in different stages of the donation handling process. Tinnu Yadav, a former driver of the Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai, allegedly had access to donation box keys. Former bank employee Subhash Srivastava supervised the cash-counting staff, while Karunesh Pandey is accused of manipulating financial receipts. Other accused allegedly participated in counting donations or handling the misappropriated funds. Police said further investigation is underway.
The arrests came after the Uttar Pradesh government constituted an SIT on June 13 following a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple. The SIT submitted its preliminary report to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) on June 23. Officials have not disclosed the contents of the report, stating that it remains confidential.
Earlier this month, both the Uttar Pradesh government and the Trust had denied allegations of financial irregularities. Trust General Secretary Champat Rai had said that regular audits involving representatives of the Trust and the State Bank of India had not revealed any discrepancies.
Reacting to the arrests, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the government had acted immediately after receiving the SIT report. “We had said, ‘Do not worry about Ayodhya.’ As soon as the SIT report was released, action was initiated immediately. Playing with matters of faith is unacceptable,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the government would maintain a zero-tolerance approach towards anyone attempting to exploit public faith or misuse institutions associated with religious devotion.
He also criticised opposition parties over their comments on the issue, saying, “One side used to say that Lord Ram doesn’t even exist… Those who would fire bullets at the mere mention of Lord Ram’s name are now saying that there has been tampering with faith.”
Meanwhile, opposition leaders have termed the FIR an “eyewash”, alleging that it does not fix accountability on senior functionaries of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, including General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra. The Trust has continued to deny any wrongdoing.
Police said the investigation is continuing and further legal action will depend on the evidence gathered during the probe.
