Ayodhya: Two people were arrested in connection with the Ram Mandir donation embezzlement case after an FIR was registered against eight named accused and several unidentified persons following recommendation made in the preliminary report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The FIR was lodged at Ram Janmabhoomi Police Station based on the complaint of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

The complainant alleged that the eight accused were systematically stealing offerings by devotees and visitors at Ram Mandir.

The accused have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5).

According to sources, the temple trust named eight accused in the FIR while also booking several unidentified persons.

Those accused and mentioned in FIR include Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Ramashankar Mishra, Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Subhash Chandra, Karunesh Pandey and one more person whose name is awaited.

Two of the accused, Anukalp and Lav Kush, have been arrested after money was allegedly recovered from them, while six others are being questioned.

The FIR includes allegations to intentional theft, habitual theft, assisting in theft and criminal breach of trust by a public servant or institutional employee under a criminal conspiracy, reported India Today citing sources.