SIT probing Ram temple donation matter granted 15-day extension

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has given a 15-day extension to the Special Investigation Team probing allegations of embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Wednesday, July 1.

The tenure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been extended to probe the matter deeply and widen the scope of the probe, they said.

The three-member SIT was constituted on June 13 to probe the allegations and was initially given 15 days to probe the allegations.

Following the submission of the preliminary SIT report on June 23, an FIR was registered on June 25 and eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested.

The SIT comprises Vijay Vishwas Pant, IAS, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow; Kiran S, IPS, Inspector General of Police; and Neel Ratan, Special Secretary, Finance Department.