The Ram Temple Trust on Monday accepted the resignations of Champat Rai as general secretary and Anil Mishra as trustee, sacked director Gopal Rao, and announced a three-member committee to appoint a new CEO as it seeks to restore its image after widespread allegations of theft of donations.
At a trust meeting at the Ram Mandir complex in Ayodhya, the body also slammed critics and said all 2,926 offers received from devotees have been registered in a register with full details, and appointed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member and trustee Krishna Mohan – who filed the first information report in the case – as interim general secretary.
Read also | ‘Theft is theft’: Ram Temple Trust accepts Champat Rai’s resignation
Statement issued by Ram Temple Foundation
“SIT’s initial report identified eight individuals against whom the Foundation had filed cases, leading to arrests. Following the report, General Secretary Champat Rai and Trustee Anil Mishra resigned on ethical grounds, which the Foundation accepted. In addition, the Foundation has decided to remove Gopal Nagarkot from the list of special invited members,” a statement from the Indian Foundation said.
“Of the total $Rs 3,264 crore received through fund contribution campaign and group donations, $Rs 2,370 crore has been used for construction and capital expenditure. From inception until March 31, 2026, total offers $Of this, Rs 582 crore has been received $Rs 391 crore has been used to cover operational expenses. The statement added that the remaining funds are available in bank accounts.
The meeting – which was attended in person by seven of the Trust’s 14 members – and two others virtually – began at around 3.15pm and concluded by 6.30pm. Champat Rai and Anil Mishra did not attend the meeting.
“Gopal Rao was not called to the meeting. Champat Rai was also not present in the meeting,” said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the trust.
Read also | Restoring confidence after the Ram Temple theft controversy
Form a three-member committee to select the CEO
The corporation also announced the formation of a three-member committee to select the CEO, namely retired judge Pramod Kohli, retired army lieutenant general Vishnukant Chaturvedi, and former National Institute of Technology Raipur chief Suresh Hawari.
This is the biggest fallout yet from allegations of irregularities in donations to the Ram temple that surfaced last month and have had profound religious and political ramifications, especially in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are expected to be held early next year.
At a press conference, Trust Treasurer Govind Dev Giri blamed the State Bank of India. The fund account is located at the Naya Ghat branch of SBI in Ayodhya.
He said: “I must point out that SBI should not have shied away from its responsibility in this matter; since the work was carried out in collaboration with SBI, they also took responsibility, and we had to suffer the dire consequences arising from their lack of supervision. In my view, SBI should have actually lodged the FIR, not through our trust, even though well-meaning members of our trust filed it themselves. The responsibility lies with “It’s really up to them.”
“We issued a written statement on June 28 stating that we have fully cooperated with the SIT in the investigations. We remain committed to extending full cooperation,” a senior SBI official in Lucknow said.
“We will adopt a process that leaves absolutely no room for doubt. We will take appropriate action and seek guidance from all concerned and fully restore the tarnished reputation of Ram Mandir,” he added. Krishna Mohan, who took over from deceased trust member Kameshwar Chaupal in September 2025, is a former Indian Forest Service officer.
“We are all feeling extremely pained by the events that have taken place; everyone has suffered, including Ram’s devotees. There were some shortcomings in the management and operations which were exploited by others. Therefore, my primary endeavor will be to plug these loopholes and rectify the mistakes. I will do my best to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future. The prevailing atmosphere has somewhat distorted our image of trust, creating a feeling of mistrust within the community,” Krishna said. Mohan.
Read also | Who is Krishna Mohan, who was appointed interim general secretary of Ram Temple Trust after Champat Rai’s resignation?
Why the controversy?
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. 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 Luvkush Mishra are related to each other and also trust member Anil Mishra. Ram Shankar Yadav – Rai’s assistant – and Manish Yadav are linked.
Last week, the police made an arrest $79,85,493 of the eight men arrested, recover money from pigeons, haystacks and cow dung cakes.
Giri described the theft of the temple’s donation boxes as a matter of “deep pain and embarrassment” for the fund, saying the controversy had cast a shadow over a temple built after centuries-long struggle and countless sacrifices.
However, the treasurer said the trust unanimously appreciated Rai’s contribution to the Ram temple movement and its construction despite accepting his resignation. Defending Ray, Giri said he was “untainted in my eyes” and praised the “life of sacrifice” he gave for the Ram temple movement.
Giri said Ray resigned voluntarily, saying he felt it was inappropriate to continue as secretary-general until the investigation was completed and those responsible were brought to justice. He said the Trust had no discretion in the matter as Chief Secretary K Parasaran pointed out that a resignation becomes effective once tendered under the Constitution of the Trust, leaving the Trust with no option but to accept it.
Giri said the trust keeps a record of all the items donated to the temple. He said the fund is willing to offer donated records and articles to anyone seeking verification. Geary said the fund will meet again on July 22, at which time the special investigation team is expected to submit its final report. He also attacked the opposition.
In the evening, members of the trust displayed before the press several items associated with the controversy, including gold-plated ramcharitmanas, a silver necklace, ‘charan paduka’ (ceremonial shoes), and a silver crow.
“The fund should be immediately dissolved and reconstituted under the guidance of the four Shankaracharyas,” Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai said after the fund meeting.
