The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir submitted its status report to the Supreme Court on Sunday. According to media reports, the report has been filed in a sealed cover. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday.
Four separate petitions related to the alleged donation theft have been filed before the Supreme Court. During the previous hearing on July 13, the court issued a notice to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to submit the SIT’s status report within a week.
The Uttar Pradesh government constituted the SIT on June 13 at the request of the temple trust. The team comprises Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, IG Kiran S, and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding an independent investigation into the trust’s financial affairs.
They also called for the trust’s accounts to be made public so devotees can know how and where the donations have been spent. They said anyone found responsible during the investigation should be held accountable.
The letter, written on Saturday and made public on Sunday, stated:
“You announced the formation of the trust in Parliament, but its members were appointed entirely by the government. It is well known that the trust members are associated with the RSS, VHP and their affiliates. The former general secretary was also considered close to you. In such circumstances, your silence is unacceptable. Ensuring accountability is your responsibility. The credibility of both the government and the trust depends on it.”
Police question main accused and his Nephew
Sunday marked the last day of police custody for the main accused, Ramashankar Yadav alias ‘Tinnu’, and his nephew Manish.
On Saturday morning at around 8:30 am, police took both men from the district jail on a 39-hour remand. Officials remained at the SOG office until around 11 pm, and the accused were not taken elsewhere during the remand.
Tinnu is said to have been a close associate of former trust general secretary Champat Rai. He was responsible for overseeing the temple’s donation boxes, while Manish was involved in counting the donations. Police recovered ₹1 lakh from Tinnu’s residence and ₹2 lakh from Manish’s house.
Earlier, police had also taken six other accused into custody on remand. They have been identified as Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, Ramashankar Mishra and Karunesh.
