Ayodhya:
KC Verma, Prosecution Officer at the Ayodhya Chief Judicial Magistrate court, said the accused had been remanded till Monday and would be produced again on June 29.
“In total, Rs 79,85,493 was recovered from them, except for one accused, Subhash. Nothing was recovered from him, though he was involved in the conspiracy. Different amounts were recovered from the others,” Verma told reporters.
He said the special court dealing with Prevention of Corruption Act cases was not sitting, following which the remand was granted till Monday. Verma also said some of those allegedly involved included public servants and SBI employees.
The arrested accused have been identified as Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Rama Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.
The FIR was registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station on June 25 on the complaint of Krishanmohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The complaint alleged theft, embezzlement, criminal breach of trust and planned misappropriation of donations made by devotees at the temple.
According to police, nine persons were named as primary suspects in the FIR, along with several unidentified individuals. The case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges related to theft by clerk or servant, criminal breach of trust, dishonestly receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.
The FIR alleges a conspiracy involving employees and others engaged in the counting and management of offerings at the temple. Police said the investigation has been transferred to the Circle Officer, Ayodhya, for further inquiry.
The case follows allegations by former Samajwadi Party MLA Pawan Pandey, who claimed that between Rs 7 crore and Rs 7.5 crore in donations had been misappropriated from the Ram Mandir. The Uttar Pradesh government constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team on June 14, following a request from the Trust. The FIR was registered on the basis of the SIT’s preliminary report.
Meanwhile, sources said Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra had resigned, taking moral responsibility in connection with the alleged donation theft case.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said an impartial investigation would be conducted. “An impartial investigation will be conducted. FIR has been registered. The government has said that action will be taken as per the law,” Pathak told reporters.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, addressing a public meeting in Deoria, said the government was proceeding on the basis of the SIT report and would follow a “zero-tolerance” approach against anyone attempting to hurt public faith.
“Ayodhya is a symbol of faith for all of us. I had said action would be taken after the SIT report comes. The SIT report has come and action has started,” he said.
Adityanath also hit out at the opposition, accusing it of politicising the issue despite having opposed the Ram temple movement in the past. He appealed to those making allegations to submit evidence before the SIT instead of making political statements.
“The government had stated from day one that the absolute truth would be brought to light. If you have proof, present the evidence to the SIT,” he said.