Ram temple donation theft: FIR registered against eight persons, all accused arrested
The accused face charges under Sections 305, 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
PTC News Desk: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested all eight people accused in the alleged Ram Temple donation embezzlement case, just hours after registering the first FIR over the alleged misuse of donations made by devotees at the Ayodhya temple.
According to sources, all eight accused are being questioned, while arrest-related legal formalities are underway. The case was filed based on a complaint by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) recommended legal action in its preliminary report.
The accused face charges under Sections 305, 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The FIR names eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav, also known as Tinnu. It also mentions several unidentified people. They have been charged with theft, criminal breach of trust, receiving or hiding stolen property, criminal conspiracy, and acting together to commit the alleged offences.
The FIR was registered after the SIT, set up by the Uttar Pradesh government, found alleged irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings made by devotees at the Ram Temple.
How the controversy began
The Uttar Pradesh government formed the SIT on June 13 after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust sought an investigation into allegations that donations received at the Ram Temple had been misused.
The issue gained political attention on June 7 when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav referred to reports claiming that donations worth crores of rupees were missing from the temple. He urged the courts to take notice of the matter and order an investigation.