Ayodhya Police raid homes of eight arrested in Ram Temple donations case

Ayodhya Police conducted simultaneous raids at the homes of all eight accused arrested in the Ram Temple donations embezzlement case. Investigators have recovered Rs 79.85 lakh so far, and police are expected to seek the accused's custodial remand on Monday

Ayodhya (UP): Ayodhya Police on Sunday conducted simultaneous raids at the residences of all eight people arrested in connection with the embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple, police sources said.

Police teams, accompanied by local magistrates, carried out searches at the homes of the accused, including Lav Kush Mishra, Avinash Shukla and Ramashankar Yadav, the sources said.

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The raids came two days after all eight accused were remanded to judicial custody till June 29 by a court in Ayodhya. Police are expected to seek their custodial remand when they are produced before the court on Monday.

The eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav — were associated with counting cash and valuables received as donations at the Ram Temple.

According to the prosecution, investigators have so far recovered Rs 79.85 lakh. The case has been registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to theft by a servant, criminal breach of trust, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy, besides sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The FIR was registered on the recommendation of a preliminary report submitted by a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government after allegations of misappropriation of the temple’s funds surfaced earlier this month.