The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested all eight accused in the alleged Ram Temple donation embezzlement case, hours after registering the first FIR in connection with the alleged misappropriation of donations offered by devotees at the Ayodhya temple.
According to sources, all eight accused are being questioned. Arrest memos and other legal formalities are currently being completed. The case was registered on the complaint of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, following the recommendation made in the preliminary report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The FIR names Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu as accused. It also mentions several unidentified persons.
The charges include offences related to theft, criminal breach of trust, receiving or concealing stolen property, criminal conspiracy and acts committed in furtherance of a common intention.
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 was registered following the recommendations of the SIT, which was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe allegations of irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings made by devotees at the Ram Temple
Krishna Mohan was inducted as a trustee of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on September 16, 2025, following the death of trustee Kameshwar Chaupal in February that year.
A resident of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, Krishna Mohan holds an MSc degree from Lucknow University. He worked for nearly six years in the atomic energy sector before joining the Indian Forest Service, where he was allotted the Maharashtra cadre.
After retiring from the Indian Forest Service in 2012, he became active in social work. Following months of consultations among members of the trust, he was unanimously selected to fill the vacancy created by Chaupal's death.
The Uttar Pradesh government constituted the SIT on June 13 following a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust after allegations surfaced regarding the alleged misappropriation of donations received at the Ram Temple.
The controversy gained political attention after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on June 7 referred to reports alleging that crores of rupees from donations offered at the temple were missing and urged the courts to take cognisance of the matter.
Responding to the allegations at the time, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Alok Kumar accused the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of attempting to derive political mileage from the controversy ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Following the registration of the FIR, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the investigation process in a post on X. He alleged that under the BJP government, "the small fish will be punished while the big fish will be spared."
Akhilesh Yadav further claimed that people were saying the SIT process may have been used to erase evidence before the FIR was registered and to decide "which big fish to save and whom to implicate." He also alleged that it appeared the SIT report had been prepared in advance and that the investigation was conducted to match predetermined conclusions.
Source: India Today