The Ayodhya Police on Wednesday took Ramashankar Mishra, one of the prime accused in the donation embezzlement case, to the rented house where he lived in Ayodhya and recovered important documents related to the land from a bag kept in the house.
HT reported earlier that the police sealed the house and also confiscated the digital video recorder of the CCTV camera installed in the rented house. Investigating agencies are examining the documents to determine whether they have any connection to the case.
Searches were also conducted On sites linked to Mishra and another accused Subhash Srivastava. They were transferred from the Ayodhya district jail to the Special Operations Group (SOG) office after undergoing a medical examination, where they were interrogated for about 14 hours.
Srivastava was supervising the money counting process at the temple, while Mishra was transporting sealed donation boxes from the temple to the counting centre. They are among the eight detainees in the case.
Read also: Ram temple donation probe: SIT finds no irregularities in Trust’s banking records, audit trail, focuses on cash handling lapses
Deposits are worth $7.32 lakh found
Police are examining the role of Mishra and Srivastava and the documents seized from their homes. Deposits approx $7.32 lakh was found in Mishra’s bank account, which his family says represents savings accumulated from his monthly salary over five to six years of service in the temple. Investigators are checking whether the deposits are linked to the alleged transfer of donations.
Police also searched Srivastava’s house, where they found and examined several documents, and said the investigation was continuing. If there is evidence of any illegal property or suspicious transactions, it will also be included in the case diary, the officials said on condition of anonymity, the officers added.
Police are investigating Srivastava’s role
To increase their bet on Srivastava, the police allege that he exploited vulnerabilities in the money-counting mechanism to facilitate the alleged embezzlement. Although no cash has been recovered from him so far, police officials said his role emerged in the preliminary findings of the government-appointed special investigation team, which identified serious procedural and supervisory loopholes in the temple’s donation management system.
Two SUVs were found, and money invested in the stock market
Earlier, during the custodial interrogation of co-accused Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey, investigators found two SUVs allegedly bought with embezzled donations, along with cash, gold ornaments and investment-related documents.
Further investigation also reveals that a portion of the funds generated by the donation scam were invested in the stock market and used for private lending before being routed through banking channels to conceal their source.
Lavkush Mishra’s wife is given 7 days to submit property papers
Supriya Mishra, wife of arrested accused Lakush Mishra, He was given a seven-day extension By the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) on Wednesday to provide documents related to an under-construction house that came under scrutiny during the investigation.
The authority warned that further measures would be taken in accordance with the law if documents are not submitted within the stipulated period.
What is the situation?
The issue came to light on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan “Pawan” Pandey alleged that donations worth $5 Crores $Rs 7.5 crore has been withdrawn from the temple offerings.
On June 13, the state government set up a special team comprising Lucknow District Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Panth, Inspector General of Police (Lucknow Range) Kiran S, and Special Secretary (Finance) Neil Ratan).
After the initial SIT report on June 23, eight accused, including Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tino, were arrested.
The three-member SIT, whose deadline expired on July 15 after receiving an extension earlier this month, It is understood that he is in the final stages of compiling his findings. It is expected to submit its final report to the Uttar Pradesh government within the next 48 hours.
(With inputs from Rohit Kumar Singh, HT Correspondents)