Before the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya came to light, the State Bank of India (SBI) had reportedly raised concerns over the cash-counting staff and recommended their replacement, according to sources.The sources claimed that around three months ago, the bank suspected possible irregularities in the handling of donations collected from the temple's donation boxes. It is learnt that SBI advised that the staff assigned to the cash-counting unit should be removed.
However, the recommendation was allegedly not acted upon after members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust intervened. The sources alleged that trust officials opposed the move and prevented the outsourcing agency from removing the staff.
According to the sources, the employees involved in the cash-counting work had been hired through an outsourcing agency and were paid monthly salaries ranging between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000. No immediate response was available from the trust regarding the allegations.
Meanwhile, sources said several people associated with the temple's management, though not members of the trust, had earlier questioned why SBI had entrusted the counting of large daily cash collections to outsourced workers instead of deploying its permanent employees.
FIR filed after SIT submits report
The controversy follows the submission of a report by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate allegations of donation embezzlement. Based on the findings, an FIR was registered on June 25.
Police later arrested eight people in connection with the case. The accused have been identified as Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav, also known as Tinnu Yadav.
According to investigators, Tinnu Yadav had arranged for his relative and co-accused, Manish Kumar Yadav, to work at the temple's cash-counting unit.
Sources added that nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash, along with some foreign currency, has so far been recovered from six of the eight accused during the investigation.
Eight accused sent to 14-day judicial custody
On Monday, all eight people accused in the alleged embezzlement of donations were remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a local court. The accused will remain in custody until July 13.
The order was issued by Special Judge (Anti-Corruption Court) Rajat Verma. During the hearing, the police informed the court that the accused should continue in judicial custody while the investigation into the case is underway.
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