A shocking revelation has come to light in the case of theft of Ram temple offerings in Ayodhya. During investigation it was found that not during counting of notes, but Even before that there was theft of offerings. Sources say that the donation notes were counted through machines. The job of the arrested accused was to neatly put together the donated notes, which were then kept in the machine by the SBI Bank employees.
The notes of 10-20-50-100-200-500 were separated in the machine itself - that is, first bundles were made through their machines and then they were counted in the note counting machines. It is clear that the theft was committed while arranging the donated notes properly. Not that the notes were stolen during counting.
As yet Ayodhya Police have not recorded the statements of SBI Bank employees. According to sources, Anil Mishra and SBI employees are to be interrogated this week.
Former SBI manager Govind Mishra is also on the radar of Ayodhya Police. At present, Govind Mishra is posted in Lucknow. All the arrested accused were third party outsourcers as per the MOU between the trust and the bank, that is, neither the bank nor the trust directly hired them for housekeeping work, but the company from which the bank outsourced the employees. The accused were kept from them.
According to sources, all were outsourced employees. It was their job to straighten the notes and arrange their bundles separately. Devotees put folded notes in the donation box. It was their job to straighten them and put them in place properly.
Not only this, Subhash Srivastava, who supervised the counting, was a former banker, and that too was outsourced through a private company.
Former SBI Bank manager Govind Mishra, who is currently posted in Lucknow branch, is on the radar of Ayodhya Police. He and the bank employees doing calculations in the temple may be interrogated soon. Also, the statements of Anil Mishra who signed the MOU with the bank can also be recorded this week. In this case, dress code, interviews and recruitment were all done by a private company, which was hired by SBI.
Uttar Pradesh Police and a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) have arrested eight people following an FIR lodged on June 25, 2026, for alleged theft and embezzlement of offerings at the Ayodhya Ram temple. Those arrested include Ram Shankar Yadav (alias Tinu Yadav), Manish Yadav, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Karunesh Pandey, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla and Ram Shankar Mishra. In this matter, the resignation of Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and Trustee Anil Mishra has been accepted.
3 accused Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra and Karunesh Pandey are on police remand. After interrogating the accused, the police conducted raids at many places on their trail.
According to the police, Rs 20,000 in cash, a gold chain, a mobile phone and a Desire car purchased in the name of his father have been recovered from the possession of accused Anukalp. The police have also seized the car.
Investigation also revealed that accused Luvkush had gifted a gold locket to his wife with the stolen money. The police have also recovered that locket. Apart from this, Rs 38 thousand in cash was also found from him.
Meanwhile, Rs 15,000 in cash has been recovered from the possession of accused Karunesh. Police say that many important information has been obtained during the interrogation and the investigation of the case is progressing continuously.
Read this also- Ayodhya: IDs of 3 big trustees including Champat Rai closed, now VIP passes will not be issued.
Input-Jeetendra Sharma
