Ayodhya: An FIR was registered on Thursday at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station in Ayodhya, based on a complaint from the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, in connection with the theft of donation from the Shri Ram Temple. This is the first major action in this case.
What is there in the FIR?
According to the information received, the FIR registered under sections 306, 316, 317, and 61 of the IPC includes the names of eight individuals, Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu.
What has happened so far in this matter?
June 7: Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Pawan Pandey alleged theft of Rs 50 million to Rs 75 million from donation boxes and offerings at the Ram Temple. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav commented on the donation theft in a post on X at 7 pm. Also on the evening of June 7, Champat Rai, general secretary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, issued a clarification.
June 8: Champat Rai denies the allegations. Temple construction committee chairman Nripendra Mishra arrives in Ayodhya late in the evening and leaves the next day.
June 9: BJP leader Dr. Rajneesh Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an investigation by an independent central agency like the CBI or ED.
June 10: The Prime Minister’s Office called for a detailed report. On the same day, Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the temple construction committee, immediately arrived in Ayodhya and held a four-hour meeting.
June 11: A video of former Ram Mandir Trust accountant Mahipal Singh goes viral, claiming he detected theft in 2021-2022, footage of which has been deleted.
June 13: SIT formed to investigate on the request of the trust.
June 15: The SIT gathered information from Champat Rai, general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, and invited member Gopal Rai. Eight to ten employees were questioned for about six hours.
June 16: The team questioned Champat Rai and Gopal Rai for four hours each. They examined the trust’s documents for 11 months. They questioned the employees who counted the donations at length.
June 17: The investigation team questioned bank officials and representatives of the private agency involved in counting the notes. Bank statements and financial records were also examined.
June 18: The team spent 10 hours at the temple complex. Anil Mishra was questioned for four hours. Titu Yadav was questioned for one and a half hours. Anil and Titu’s answers were cross-checked.
June 19: Champat Rai, Dr. Anil Mishra, and Gopal Rai, the man in charge of the Ram Temple construction, were questioned separately. The branch manager and cashier of the State Bank were also questioned.
June 20: The team gathered bank account information for all the accused and suspects, gathered evidence, and after the investigation, took all the evidence with them and left for Lucknow.
June 23: The SIT on Tuesday submitted a 20-page preliminary report to Home Department Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Prasad.
June 25: FIR lodged against 8 people including Anukalp Mishra
