NEW DELHI: The SIT probing the alleged theft and embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple has found repeated instances of employees allegedly concealing cash during the counting process and flagged serious lapses in security and supervision.
The preliminary findings of the Special Investigation team (SIT) have been shared with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
During a press briefing after the meeting, trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri said the preliminary SIT report was read out before the trustees but was neither discussed nor debated. He also noted that the SIT’s probe was still underway.
According to the preliminary report, CCTV footage recorded between April 27 and June 5 showed employees inside the counting room allegedly hiding bundles of currency notes and loose cash in their clothes, pockets, shoes and other places on multiple occasions. The report refers to around 70 such suspicious instances.
The SIT said the alleged irregularities were not isolated incidents but appeared to be a repeated and systematic practice over several days. It found that prescribed security protocols were not followed in the counting room, with no searches conducted at entry or exit points, inadequate control over employees’ personal belongings, cash from multiple donation boxes counted together and serious deficiencies in the recording and verification of valuable offerings.
The report has named six persons whose prima facie involvement has been indicated — Avinash Shukla, Anukul Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey and Ram Shankar Mishra.
All these accused along with two others are already under arrest.
Avinash Shukla, one of the accused in the Ram temple donation embezzlement case, allegedly admitted during interrogation that he spent Rs 19 lakh on his friends and family members, police sources said on Monday.
Shukla allegedly told the investigators that he gave around Rs 6 lakh for the wedding celebrations of one of his brothers and Rs 5 lakh to another brother, sources said.
Police also found that he purchased a car worth about Rs 3.5 lakh, which has already been recovered.
Sources claimed that Avinash transferred around Rs 2.5 lakh to a friend and also gifted the same person an expensive mobile phone.
The investigation revealed that smaller amounts were also distributed to several individuals, police said.
Police have questioned two of Avinash’s brothers and seized documents related to the investigation.
Officials are examining land purchased in 2024 in the name of his brother Abhishek Shukla and scrutinising bank accounts that allegedly received transferred funds.
A total of Rs 20.39 lakh in cash, US dollars 1,121, gold jewellery, silver ornaments and other valuables, along with a car, were also recovered from Shukla’s possession.
According to the findings, nearly Rs 78.94 lakh was recovered from some employees before the investigation commenced. The report also mentions the recovery of around Rs 2.25 lakh from the counting room on June 4.
The SIT further said scrutiny of bank accounts of the employees concerned revealed cash deposits and financial transactions disproportionate to their declared income, warranting a detailed financial investigation.
The report also questioned the trust’s monitoring mechanisms, pointing to serious shortcomings in security arrangements, CCTV surveillance, compliance with standard operating procedures, frisking of staff and supervisory oversight, which it said enabled the alleged thefts and embezzlement.
However, the SIT said allegations circulating on social media regarding the disappearance of valuable offerings such as silver bricks and other costly donated items were not substantiated at the preliminary stage. It nevertheless recommended strengthening the management, documentation and verification systems for valuable offerings.
The Uttar Pradesh government forwarded a copy of the preliminary SIT report to the trust on June 25, informing it of the findings. The report was appended to a release of the trust issued after its meeting on Monday, in which the trust accepted the resignations of its general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra amid the controversy.
The findings come amid a major controversy over the handling of donations at the Ram temple. Earlier on Monday, the trust accepted the resignations of Rai and Mishra, while appointing Krishna Mohan as the interim general secretary.
Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri maintained that the preliminary report was only an interim finding, said the investigation would continue, and asserted that allegations regarding missing jewellery and other valuable offerings were unfounded.
He also displayed ornaments and other donated valuables before the media, saying they were safely preserved by the trust.
The SIT said its report is preliminary in nature and that further investigation and legal action will follow based on the detailed probe.
The Uttar Pradesh government had granted the investigation team a 15-day extension on July 1. The SIT was constituted on June 13 to investigate allegations of theft and embezzlement in the counting of donations at the Ram temple.
PTI/Agencies