An FIR has been registered against eight named accused and several unidentified persons in connection with the alleged Ram Temple donation embezzlement case in Ayodhya following the recommendation made in the preliminary report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The FIR was lodged at the Ram Janmabhoomi Police Station on the complaint of Shri Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
According to sources, the temple trust named eight accused in the FIR while also booking several unidentified persons. The named accused include Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Yadav, Ramashankar Mishra, Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Subhash Chandra, Karunesh Pandey and one more accused whose name is awaited.
Sources said the FIR includes allegations related to intentional theft, habitual theft, assisting in theft and criminal breach of trust by a public servant or institutional employee under a criminal conspiracy. They also said the case has been registered under provisions related to embezzlement, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
The Uttar Pradesh government directed the registration of the case under Sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to sources, all eight named accused have been taken into custody after the alleged recovery of the money from them.
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. He had said that the world was watching and referred to the Samajwadi Party government's role during the Ram Mandir movement.
Source: India Today