Ram Temple Donation Case: SIT Finds 105 Alleged Theft Instances In Ayodhya Probe

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate alleged irregularities in the accounting of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has identified 105 distinct instances of alleged theft, people familiar with the matter said.

The findings were included in a status report submitted to the Supreme Court on September 16, marking an increase from the 70 alleged instances identified in the interim report of the first SIT headed by Vijay Vishwas Pant.

The first SIT was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government on June 13. A second SIT was formed on July 26 following directions from the Supreme Court.

The second team comprises Lucknow zone inspector general of police Kiran S, Ayodhya range deputy inspector general Somen Barma, Ayodhya senior superintendent of police Gaurav Grover and Barabanki additional SP Ritesh Kumar Singh.

CCTV Footage, Donation Records Analysed

Investigators analysed hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, along with digital logging receipts, witness statements and bank deposit records, to reconstruct the alleged diversion of donations before the money was transferred to bank lockers.

The status report also outlined the process followed for handling valuables donated by devotees, details of arrests made in the case and the evidence collected against the accused.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of the SIT’s report during Monday’s hearing and expressed satisfaction with the investigation.

However, the court declined to provide a copy of the status report to the petitioners at this stage. The bench said it did not want to take the matter outside the jurisdiction of the sessions judge and would issue further directions if it found that additional investigation was necessary.

Chargesheet Deadline Set For September 25

The Uttar Pradesh government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, assured the Supreme Court that the chargesheet would be filed by September 25.

The deadline is significant because the statutory 90-day period from the first arrest in the case expires on that date. After the period ends, the arrested accused could become eligible for default bail if the chargesheet has not been filed.

How The Donation Theft Case Began

The controversy emerged on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth between ₹5 crore and ₹7.5 crore had been siphoned off from temple offerings.

The first SIT’s interim report subsequently alleged that a portion of the offerings was diverted before being deposited into the temple’s designated bank account.

Eight employees involved in handling and counting donations were arrested on June 26.

The accused were identified as Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav ‘Tinnu’, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra and Karunesh Pandey.

They were booked under Sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, covering offences including criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, as well as Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Nearly ₹80 Crore? No, ₹79.85 Lakh Seized

Investigators seized ₹79,85,493 from the eight arrested men, according to people familiar with the investigation. The recovery was reportedly made from locations including bathrooms, haystacks and cow dung cakes.

Investigators also found relationships among some of the accused. Anukalp Mishra and Lavkush Mishra are related to each other as well as to Anil Mishra, while Ram Shankar Yadav, described as an aide of Rai, and Manish Yadav are also related.

The latest SIT findings will now form part of the ongoing judicial proceedings as investigators move towards filing the chargesheet.