The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has put the shrine's donation management system under scrutiny after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) uncovered multiple lapses, leading to the arrest of eight people involved in counting cash and valuables.
Here is what the investigation has found so far.
While investigators are still trying to establish how the donations were allegedly siphoned off and the exact amount involved, the SIT's preliminary report points to several major lapses.
According to sources, standard operating procedures (SOPs) requiring a security guard to be present during the counting process, frisking of personnel entering and leaving the counting room, and preservation of CCTV footage for 180 days were not followed.
Sources said Ramashankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, a former driver of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai, held the keys to several 'hundis' (donation boxes), in violation of the rules.
"Many 'hundis' were there. So cash received in those hundis whose keys were with Tinnu was swindled apparently due to laxity in implementing the SOPs. The exact modus operandi is still being established," a source said.
The SOPs were finalised in 2025 at a meeting attended by trust officials and representatives of the State Bank of India after trust officials suspected irregularities in the donation-counting process.
The SOPs were formally approved by temple trust member Anil Mishra and State Bank of India representative Govind Mishra.
"The SOPs included a dress code requiring donation-counting staff to wear clothes without pockets, deployment of a guard through the Sainik Security Services (SIS) agency, regular frisking of all personnel entering and leaving the donation-counting rooms, and random checks. None of these norms was followed," the source said.
The SIT also found that CCTV footage of the donation-counting process was retained for only 45 days instead of the mandated 180 days.
According to the SIT report, donation-counting in-charge and accused Subhash Srivastava was appointed on the recommendation of one of the trust's three top functionaries.
The controversy erupted on June 7 after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, a charge dismissed by Rai. "Nothing noteworthy has come to light during the ongoing internal audit," Rai had said.
The SIT, constituted on June 13 on the orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, appears to have contradicted that assessment.
Sources said the nature of the findings pointed to the need for a major "overhaul" of the temple's management system.
They told PTI it took the SIT six days to uncover what they described as alleged mismanagement, donation embezzlement, serious procedural lapses and neglect in the temple's administration.
The findings formed part of the preliminary report submitted to the government on June 23.
The Ram temple has seen a surge in devotees since its consecration on January 22, 2024, particularly during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, resulting in a sharp increase in cash and valuable offerings.
Following the submission of the SIT report, an FIR was registered on 25 June and eight people — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested.
Police said Tinnu Yadav had employed his relative and co-accused, Manish Kumar Yadav, at the temple's cash-counting unit.
All eight accused have been remanded in judicial custody until Monday.
According to the sources, nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash, along with some foreign currency, has been recovered from six of the eight accused so far.
"Though the probe is still underway, you would have noticed the speed with which action followed after the trust, given the enormity of the SIT's preliminary findings, was forced to register an FIR," the source said.
"After the controversy broke out and just before the SIT was constituted, Rs 2.5 lakh was recovered from a washroom near the donation counting room," the source said.
Sources said the disclosures were "hugely embarrassing" as "those responsible" for managing the trust remained oblivious to the alleged fraud.
(With inputs form PTI)
