8 employees stole crores from the donation box of Ayodhya Ram temple. SIT investigation has revealed loot of about Rs 7.5 crore. 8 accused have been arrested and cash and property have been seized from them.
Lucknow: The construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya was a 500 year old dream. When this dream came true on 22 January 2024, there was no limit to the happiness of crores of Ram devotees. People from every corner of the country were going to Ayodhya to have darshan of Ramlala. But just a few months after the inauguration of the temple, some employees cleaned the donation box of Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram temple. The faith of Ram devotees has been deeply hurt by this incident. We give the example of ‘Ram Rajya’ for good governance, but this theft in the city of Ram himself has sparked a new debate in the entire country.
This is not a one-time theft. Between April 27 and June 5, i.e. in just 42 days, the eight accused stole money from the donation box more than 70 times. When the matter became bigger, on June 13, the Uttar Pradesh government handed over the investigation to the SIT and arrested 8 accused. The local court has sent the accused to judicial custody for 14 days till July 13. SIT has seized Rs 80 lakh cash, 1 car and 3 iPhones from the accused. According to the investigating agency, around Rs 7.5 crore was looted from the donation box.
How did the case of theft of Ram temple donations come to light?
June 7: Samajwadi Party leader Pawan Pandey alleged that there was loot of Rs 5 to 7.5 crore in Ayodhya Ram temple.
June 8: Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav made serious allegations of loot of more than Rs 200 crore.
June 9: BJP leader Rajneesh Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi demanding investigation by CBI and ED.
10 June: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) sought a report on the alleged scam in the temple.
June 11: Trust general secretary Champat Rai termed the allegations of donation theft as false.
12 June: Former bank account in-charge Mahipal Singh also accused of looting donations.
June 13: The Uttar Pradesh government formed a SIT of 3 officers for a high-level investigation into the matter.
24 June: SIT officials submitted a 150-page interim report to the Uttar Pradesh government.
June 25: The first FIR was registered regarding the scam. 8 employees working in the temple were arrested.
26 June: Trustees Champat Rai and Dr. Anil Mishra resigned.
These are the 8 accused for flouting the honor of Ayodhya
1. Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinku Yadav: He was the former car driver of Trust General Secretary Champat Rai. He was in charge of counting the cash and carrying the donation boxes.
Driver now owner of property worth Rs 50 crore!
Tinku Yadav earlier used to drive an auto. Later he became the driver of Champat Rai, general secretary of Ram Mandir Janmabhoomi Trust. After leaving the job of a driver, he built a 10-room guest house worth Rs 50 crore near Ayodhya Airport. He has partnership in 3 restaurants, a house in Lucknow and also a Fortuner car.
2. Ram Shankar Mishra: An employee counting the cash of donation box of Ram temple.
3. Anukalp Mishra: Son of Ram Shankar Mishra and a cash counting employee.
A person with a salary of Rs 20 thousand has a flat in Noida.
This person, who got a salary of only Rs 20,000, bought a flat worth Rs 65 lakh in Noida. A farm house is also being built in his village at a cost of Rs 1 crore. He owns a car and was about to book a new Scorpio SUV.
4. Luv Kush Mishra: Ram Shankar Mishra’s son-in-law and cash counting staff.
₹15000 salary, but a house worth ₹25 lakhs
His salary in the temple was Rs 12-15 thousand. He bought a plot worth Rs 8.8 lakh in his wife’s name near Ayodhya-Lucknow Highway and is building a house on it. Today the price of that house is around Rs 25 lakh. During the SIT raid, Rs 12 lakh cash was found in his house. He had also bought a bike worth more than Rs 1 lakh.
5. Avinash Shukla: Attendant of Ram temple.
A total of Rs 58 lakh, including Rs 5 lakh, were seized from its bank account.
6. Manish Yadav: Cash counting employee.
Rs 36 lakh were seized from its bank account.
7. Subhash Chandra Srivastava: Former employee of the bank and in-charge of cash counting staff.
8. Karunesh Pandey: He used to take money by giving fake receipts in the name of trust. He also used to steal gold and silver jewelery donated by devotees by making fake receipts.
50 people were on the job of counting cash
50 people were deployed to count the donation money in Ayodhya Ram temple. Of these, 24 employees used to make bundles of numbered notes. 12 people used to monitor him. 14 people were auditors of SBI and one private company.
Ram’s wealth was looted through these methods
– There was no checking of the employees while coming and going to the cash counting place.
– An employee used to stand in front of the CCTV camera, so that the camera gets blocked. Rest of the people used to stuff notes in the pockets of their pants and shirts.
– They used to hide the stolen money in the toilet. After the work was over, they would take it home and divide it among themselves.
– While counting notes, they used to make a bundle by adding more notes to the bundle. When he took the money to the bank to deposit it, he used to take out extra notes on the way.
Apart from this, there are allegations of disappearance of gold and silver ornaments and idols donated to the temple.
How did these people become employees?
The Trust had given the responsibility of counting the donations to State Bank of India (SBI). SBI had given this work to a private agency on outsourcing basis. These accused were recruited in that agency on the recommendation of many big people.