A three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) returned to Ayodhya on Thursday and interrogated three key employees of the Ram Temple Trust, Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao, for six hours even as Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya appeared to defend Rai and more arrests in the row appeared imminent.
These developments came on the day Ayodhya Police secured the first remand of an accused in the donations case. The court of Additional District Judge (Anti-Corruption) Rajat Varma granted 24-hour remand to Avinash Shukla, who was from his residence. $Police recovered Rs 20.40 lakh in cash earlier this month.
According to people familiar with the matter, the Ayodhya police have sought remand for Avinash Shukla on the request of the Special Investigation Court. The above persons said that more arrests are likely to be made based on information obtained from Shukla during the day-long remand.
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Separately, Rai, who resigned as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust last week following allegations of irregularities in donation collections at the Ram temple, told colleagues that his service in Ayodhya was complete and he would not carry this “stigma” with him. Ray, who is currently living in isolation, said his trust had been “betrayed,” according to people familiar with the matter.
The future of RAI and Trust member Anil Mishra, who resigned from their posts, is likely to be decided at a meeting of the trust scheduled to be held in Ayodhya on Monday. The meeting is also expected to discuss key issues relating to trust management, particularly in light of the recommendations of the Special Investigation Team.
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The eight men arrested so far include Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar “Tino” Yadav, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra and Karunesh Pandey. Anukalp Mishra and Lavkush Mishra are linked to each other, as well as to trust member Anil Mishra, who resigned last week along with trust general secretary Champat Rai. Ram Shankar Yadav – Rai’s assistant – and Manish Yadav are linked.
Last week, the police made an arrest $79,85,493 of the eight detainees recovered money from pigeons and cow dung cakes.
In Prayagraj, Maurya appeared to defend Rai – the first time a senior UP minister had spoken out about a fiduciary since the controversy erupted last month.
“There is no need to comment during the investigation. The incident that occurred is being investigated by the Special Investigation Team and the police have also registered an FIR and are conducting an investigation. We have to wait for the outcome of the investigation. However, the opposition has no moral right to talk about the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi case,” news agency IANS quoted the minister as saying.
“Those who worked with great dedication for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi movement, including Champat Rai Ji and all those involved in the temple movement, felt intense pain over this incident. But the way this issue has turned into a major public controversy is unnecessary,” he added.
The special investigation team reached the Ram temple complex around 2.30 pm and interrogated Rai, Mishra and Rao for about six hours, officials said on Thursday. This exercise marks the beginning of an extensive investigation by the team after the Uttar Pradesh government granted it time till July 15 to complete the investigation.
The court questioned Ray for about three hours on Sunday. During the latest round, investigators reconsidered several aspects of the temple’s donation management system and sought detailed clarifications from credit officers about the administrative framework governing cash collection, counting and banking services, officials said.
The officials added that investigators spent time understanding the entire fund management mechanism, including the appointment of external staff involved in cash counting operations, the memorandum of understanding signed with the State Bank of India (SBI) for cash management, and the supervisory responsibilities assigned to various stakeholders.
Officials said the expanded interrogation was aimed at determining the extent of administrative control exercised over the handling, counting and disbursement of worshipers’ offerings and determining whether supervisory failures had contributed to the alleged embezzlement.
Investigators are simultaneously examining the role of SBI officials associated with the temple’s cash management system, the external agency responsible for deploying manpower for cash counting operations, and implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs) governing the handling of donations.
The special investigation team is checking whether mandatory safeguards — including staff searches, CCTV surveillance, deployment protocols, supervisory checks and other security measures — were properly implemented or whether systemic deficiencies allowed the alleged theft to continue undetected, officials said.
This is the second major investigation period being conducted by the SIT team in Ayodhya. The team had earlier camped in the temple town from June 15 to 20, to examine documents, inspect the cash handling process and record statements of officials before submitting a preliminary report to the state government on June 23.
The three-member SIC comprises Lucknow District Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police (Lucknow Range) Kiran S, and Special Secretary (Finance) Neil Ratan. The team is expected to submit its final report to the Uttar Pradesh government by July 15, and the findings are likely to determine whether the scope of the criminal investigation is expanded to include additional individuals or agencies, senior officials said.
The controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan “Pawan” Pandey claimed the donations were worth… $5 Crores $Rs 7.5 crore has been withdrawn from the temple offerings.
On June 13, the state government set up the Special Investigation Committee. According to investigators, the investigation prima facie revealed a systematic transfer of money during the addition and counting process. The court claimed that a portion of the offerings were withdrawn before being deposited in the temple’s designated bank account, leading to the arrest of eight employees associated with handling and counting donations on June 26.
Last month, a First Information Report was registered against eight named accused and other unidentified persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 306, 316 (5), 317 (4), 317 (5), 61 and 3 (5), relating to offenses like criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13 (1) (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
