Ayodhya Ram temple donation scam: SIT orders 5-year re-audit of trust accounts after massive irregularities surface

The SIT probing the Ayodhya Ram temple donation embezzlement case will re-audit the Trust’s financial records from the past five years. Following high-profile resignations and major cash recoveries, key accused Avinash Shukla is currently undergoing intense police interrogation

Ayodhya (UP): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple here will conduct a re-audit of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s accounts for the past five years after the preliminary probe indicated large-scale irregularities, sources said on Friday.

The re-audit will cover construction-related expenditure as well as jewellery and other gold and silver items received as donations, the sources said.

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The SIT will carry out a detailed scrutiny of the Trust’s financial records for the entire five-year period, the sources said.

In another development, the Ayodhya Police questioned key accused Avinash Shukla after taking him into custody.

Shukla, who was involved in donation-counting work, was arrested earlier in the case, and a local court on Thursday granted his police custody for 24 hours.

Police sources said Shukla, from whose possession the highest cash recovery in the case has been made so far, is facing intensified legal proceedings.

The SIT has so far questioned Trust general secretary Champat Rai, trustee Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao, who has been associated with the temple’s construction and management.

Rai and Mishra have tendered their resignations from their respective posts, and the Trust is expected to take a decision on them at its meeting scheduled for July 6.

According to police sources, cash recoveries in the case include Rs 20.39 lakh from Shukla, Rs 18.07 lakh from Karunesh Pandey, Rs 16.82 lakh from Anukalp Mishra, Rs 14.25 lakh from Lavkush Mishra, Rs 7.32 lakh from Ramashankar Mishra and Rs 1 lakh from Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu.

Police have also recovered around 11 grams of gold, about 375 grams of silver and USD 1,121 during the investigation. Investigators also seized a donation box labelled “Ramrajya Kosh”, bearing a Paytm QR code, from a yoga centre in Ayodhya where Shukla had allegedly been staying for nearly a decade, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Bageshwar Dham chief Acharya Dhirendra Krishna Shastri on Friday expressed confidence in the investigation, saying those responsible for the alleged embezzlement would face punishment.

“God will punish the culprits. We have complete faith in the country’s law and order system and in the SIT,” he told reporters.

“The present age is not just the age of Kalyug; it is more an age of ‘Chhalyug’ (deception). In this age of deception, it is important to remain vigilant. At the present time, saints, mahants, monasteries and temples are being targeted in a planned manner. Whoever has committed this sin will be punished by God, and the SIT, the law of the country and the government will also punish them,” he added.

The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple came to light on June 7. An FIR was registered on June 25 on the basis of a preliminary report submitted by the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Eight persons associated with the temple’s donation-counting process have been arrested so far, and the investigation is continuing.