Eight persons named as accused in a First Information Report (FIR) over the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple in Ayodhya have been arrested, said local police officials in Ayodhya on Saturday.
The accused are Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Subhash Chandra Srivastava and Karunesh Pandey. They have been booked under charges including theft, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The arrested accused included close aide of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai.
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As per the FIR accused were involved in the process of counting cash and valuables donated by devotees at the temple. Officials alleged that the accused had misappropriated donations collected through boxes installed on the temple premises.
Uttar Pradesh opposition parties questioned the FIR alleging the big people like Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai, Trust member Dr Anil Mishra or temple construction in-charge Gopal Rao have been protected by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking about the FIR, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said the government is acting based on SIT report.
“Ayodhya is a symbol of faith for all of us, learn to follow the dignity practiced by Shri Ram. I had said that action will be taken after the SIT report comes, the SIT report has come, action has started,” he said, addressing a public meeting in Deoria.
Criticising the opposition parties the CM added, “those who are raising objections today, their intentions are not good, these are the people who had rejected Lord Ram, they used to say that Ram never existed. These people kept denying Ayodhya. These are the same people who used to fire bullets at Shri Ram, you will tell us about faith,” he alleged.
The FIR was registered on Friday (June 26, 2026), after the preliminary investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The FIR, was lodged at the instance of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. It follows recommendations made in the preliminary report of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the allegations.
The case has been registered under sections 306 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 317 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, among other provisions.
The controversy over the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple surfaced on June 7. The Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 13 at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which submitted its preliminary report to the government on June 23.
An FIR was registered on the night of June 25 based on the SIT’s recommendations, and Ayodhya police confirmed the arrests of the accused on Friday.
The names of some of the accused had been circulating on social media ever since Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav raised the issue on June 7, after which it snowballed into a major political controversy, with the VHP and the Aam Aadmi Party also demanding registration of a criminal case.
Subhash Chandra Srivastava was reportedly in charge of the cash-counting staff, while the other accused were involved in counting cash, valuables or were associated with the process in different capacities.
Among those named in the FIR is Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, who is said to be a former driver of the Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai. Tinnu denied any role in cash counting and blamed unnamed “jealous people” for the allegations.
Other accused, including Lavkush Mishra and Anukalp Mishra, were also allegedly involved in counting cash and valuables received as donations at the temple. PTI’s attempts to contact senior Trust officials, including Champat Rai and Anil Mishra, for comment were unsuccessful.
The three-member SIT was headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant.
(With inputs from PTI)
Published – June 26, 2026 11:14 am IST
