Two held in Ram temple donation embezzlement case sent on 14-hour police remand

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Two more accused arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations meant for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple were taken from the District Jail in Ayodhya on Wednesday after a court granted the police a 14-hour remand for custodial interrogation.

The accused have been identified as Subhash Chandra Srivastava, a retired bank employee who supervised the temple’s cash-counting operations, and Ramashankar Mishra.

Police officials escorted the duo from the jail to conduct day-long questioning as part of the investigation into the alleged misappropriation of temple donations.

So far, the police have interrogated four other accused, Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey, during their police custody remand.

The interrogation is currently underway.

Meanwhile, Ayodhya Hanuman Garhi temple priest Mahant Raju Das accused the Opposition of politicising the issue and said the investigation would establish the truth.

“I have observed them (Opposition) constantly. They are those who have absolutely nothing to do with Lord Ram, the Ram Mandir, or faith; their only goal is to grind their own political axe. Since their political ground has slipped away, they have nothing else to do. They never contributed even a single rupee in donations, yet they started talking about donations. Naturally, some irregularities occurred; regarding this, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had asked everyone to remain patient and composed,” he told ANI.

He said some irregularities had occurred and that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had urged people to remain patient while the investigation proceeds.

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“An SIT was constituted; the investigation is underway, ten people have been arrested, and other guilty parties will not escape either… The way the Opposition, by attacking the faith of Sanatanis, kept harping on about theft without any basis, makes me feel that the Opposition has committed a heinous sin… They raised the issue of donation theft solely to strike a blow at the faith of Sanatanis… I believe that the Supreme Court will receive all the evidence regarding the sequence of events, ensuring that the absolute truth comes to light,” Das added.

Earlier on Monday, an Ayodhya court had extended the judicial custody of all eight accused in the Ram Mandir donation embezzlement case by 14 days. The accused appeared before the court through video conferencing and are scheduled to appear again on July 27.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on petitions seeking an independent, court-monitored probe into the alleged misappropriation of donations at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohan directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report, including details of its composition, and posted the matter for further consideration next Monday.

The apex court clarified that it was not examining the merits of the allegations at this stage and sought to be apprised of the progress of the investigation.

The petitions before the Supreme Court seek an independent probe into allegations that donations made by devotees at the Ram Mandir were siphoned off by staff handling the counting of cash offerings.

(ANI)

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