Ayodhya Ram Mandir
Ayodhya: The controversy surrounding alleged irregularities in donations collected at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya intensified on Friday, June 26, after Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai resigned from his post, citing moral responsibility amid the ongoing investigation.
Trustee Anil Mishra also tendered his resignation.
The developments come days after authorities launched a formal probe into allegations that donations offered by devotees at the temple had been siphoned off during the collection and counting process.
On Wednesday, police arrested eight individuals named in a First Information Report (FIR) linked to the alleged embezzlement. Investigators said all of those arrested were involved in handling, counting, or processing cash and valuables received as offerings at the temple.
A court has granted police custody of all eight accused till June 29, during which investigators will continue questioning them, an official said on Friday.
Prosecution Officer KC Verma told reporters that they have been remanded in police custody till Monday, June 29, and will be produced before the special court thereafter.
Verma said investigators have so far recovered Rs 79.85 lakh during the probe.
He said appropriate provisions relating to criminal breach of trust by public servants and the Prevention of Corruption Act had been invoked as the accused were public servants and were allegedly involved in embezzlement.
The prosecution officer said five to six of the arrested persons were bank employees who were deployed for counting cash donations received at the temple and were drawing salaries from the bank. He, however, declined to identify the individual bank employees at this stage of the investigation.
He said Tinnu Yadav was not a bank employee but worked as a driver, while Subhash Srivastava was in charge of the donation counting process.
The FIR was filed following a complaint by Krishna Mohan, a member of the temple trust, after a preliminary report submitted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) recommended criminal proceedings against the accused.
Police have booked the suspects under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges related to theft by employees, criminal breach of trust, possession of stolen property, and criminal conspiracy. Officials confirmed that the accused were detained in Ayodhya and are currently being questioned.
“All eight persons named in the FIR have been arrested and are being questioned as part of the investigation,” the officials said on condition of anonymity.
Ayodhya SSP Gaurav Grover told PTI, “The accused are in our custody. They will be produced before the court following preliminary questioning about the case.”
Those named in the FIR — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu — were associated with the process of counting cash and valuables received as donations at the temple, an official said.
“All the accused were in Ayodhya itself and were picked up for questioning late Thursday night. Further questioning is underway. Police are preparing to present them before a magistrate,” a senior official told PTI here.
The names of some of the accused had been circulating on social media ever since Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav raised the issue on June 7, after which it snowballed into a major political controversy, with the VHP and the Aam Aadmi Party also demanding registration of a criminal case.
Subhash Chandra Srivastava was reportedly in charge of the cash-counting staff, while the other accused were involved in counting cash, valuables or were associated with the process in different capacities.
Among those named in the FIR is Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, who is said to be a former driver of the Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai.
Tinnu denied any role in cash counting and blamed unnamed “jealous people” for the allegations.
Other accused, including Lavkush Mishra and Anukalp Mishra, were also allegedly involved in counting cash and valuables received as donations at the temple. PTI’s attempts to contact senior Trust officials, including Champat Rai and Anil Mishra, for comment were unsuccessful.
The three-member SIT was headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant.
A senior official said the SIT had made “strong and strict” recommendations in its preliminary report submitted to the state government earlier this week and asserted that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was “very serious” about the matter, adding that anyone found guilty would face stringent action.
Opposition leaders have described the FIR as an “eyewash”, alleging that it does not fix accountability on senior functionaries of the Trust, including general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said action against those accused in the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya began immediately after the SIT submitted its report, asserting that those found guilty would not be spared.
Addressing a public meeting in Deoria, Adityanath reiterated his warning against hurting people’s faith.
“Ayodhya is a symbol of the faith of all of us and of Sanatan Dharma. Do not cast an evil eye on Ayodhya. Learn to uphold the dignity of Lord Ram. We had said an SIT had been constituted and that action would begin as soon as its report was received,” Adityanath said, recalling his remarks in Ayodhya on June 19.
“The SIT report came and action started immediately. I assure you that, as I had said, we will separate truth from falsehood,” he said.
The chief minister said no one would be allowed to play with public faith and warned of strict action against anyone found guilty.
“Playing with public sentiment is unacceptable. Whoever tampers with the faith of Sanatan Dharma will have to face the consequences. No one can be given any exemption,” he said.
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday described as a “sham” the FIR registered in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple here, claiming only junior employees were targeted while “bigger people” were being protected.
After offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi temple here, Kejriwal, accompanied by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) RS MP and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Sanjay Singh, told reporters that he had prayed for the well-being and prosperity of everyone.
“I prayed that whoever is guilty of this ‘maha paap’ (grave sin) should receive the strictest possible punishment from God,” he said referring to the alleged theft of donations at the temple.
On the FIR lodged by the Ayodhya Police, the former Delhi chief minister said, “The FIR is merely an eyewash and a sham. Eight low-level employees have been arrested in this case. This scam had been going on for such a long time. It is obvious that junior employees alone could not have carried out such activities for so long. The links of this scam go much higher up, but there is an attempt to shield the big people while placing the entire blame on the heads of these small employees.”
(With excerpts from PTI)
This post was last modified on June 26, 2026 7:20 pm