AYODHYA: As Ayodhya police conducted raids on the homes of eight accused in the Ram Temple donation fund theft case on Sunday, lawyers in the temple town indicated they were unlikely to represent the accused, potentially leaving them without local legal counsel.
All eight accused are currently in judicial custody and are scheduled to be produced before a local court on Monday.
According to local sources, there is growing sentiment within the Ayodhya legal fraternity against defending those named in the FIR related to the alleged theft of temple donations.
The issue is expected to be formally discussed at a general body meeting of the Faizabad Bar Association on Monday.
Bar Association president Kalika Mishra said the proposal for a unanimous refusal to represent the accused would be placed before the general body, which would take the final decision.
A similar stand was taken by lawyers in Ayodhya in 2005 when those accused in the terrorist attack on the makeshift Ram temple at the Janmabhoomi site were produced before a Faizabad court.
Sources said lawyers were angered by the alleged theft of temple offerings and had united in demanding strict action against the accused.
Bar Association secretary Shailendra Jaiswal said public sentiments had been hurt by the alleged theft.
"The lawyers of Faizabad have agreed not to plead on behalf of the arrested accused. In this matter, a decision will be taken by the Bar Association president and the general body of the Bar. After this, the further strategy will be prepared," he said.
Senior advocate Rajendra Chaudhary said the incident had tarnished Ayodhya's image.
"Due to the act of a few people, residents of Ayodhya have got a bad name across the whole world. Stern action should be taken against these accused by adopting the bulldozer policy," he said.
Meanwhile, police carried out coordinated searches at the residences of the accused a day before they were due to be produced in court following the completion of their three-day judicial custody.
According to sources, eight police teams comprising male and female personnel verified the addresses of the accused before simultaneously conducting raids at their residences across Ayodhya.
Police had earlier said they recovered Rs 79.8 lakh from seven of the eight arrested men, Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, and Subhash Srivastava, during the investigation. No cash or valuables were recovered from Srivastava.
Police teams, accompanied by local magistrates, also searched the homes of several accused, including Lavkush Mishra, Avinash Shukla and Ramashankar Yadav, sources added.