Ram Temple donation theft case: 74,000-page chargesheet filed, eight accused named

Ram Temple donation theft: A 74,000-page chargesheet has been filed in the Ram temple donation theft case in Ayodhya. The Special Investigation Team submitted it against the eight arrested accused in a local court on Wednesday. Senior Superintendent of Police, Ayodhya, Gaurav Grover said the court has accepted the chargesheet, and all eight accused are in judicial custody.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Grover said the chargesheet has been filed under various provisions, including criminal breach of trust and the Prevention of Corruption Act. On Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted the SIT status report in the Supreme Court.

The report said CCTV cameras installed at the Ram temple premises had captured 105 instances of theft and referred to the arrests made in the case and the evidence gathered against the accused, it said.

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The eight accused have been named as Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, and Subhash Srivastava.

The case relates to allegations of embezzlement and theft of cash and valuables offered by devotees at the temple. Most of the accused were involved in counting cash donations at the temple. Subhash Srivastava was allegedly in charge of the donation-counting process, while Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver and was a close aide of former Trust general secretary Champat Rai.

As per the report that cited sources, police recovered Rs 79.8 lakh from seven of the eight arrested men. The prosecution said investigators recovered Rs 79.85 lakh in connection with the case. No cash or valuables were recovered from Subhash Srivastava, it added. The FIR was registered on June 25, two days after the SIT submitted its preliminary findings to the government, on a complaint filed by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

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A large number of lawyers reached the court in Ayodhya on Wednesday after learning that the SIT had filed its chargesheet. Ayodhya Bar Association president Kalika Prasad Mishra said they had earlier submitted an application to the police seeking an inquiry into the alleged roles of Champat Rai, Anil Mishra, and Gopal Rao, all then office bearers of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Champat Rai has since resigned from the post of general secretary of the Trust, while Anil Mishra was a member.

The hearing on the bail applications of the remaining two accused, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav, was deferred on Wednesday after the local bar association raised objections following the filing of the chargesheet, their lawyer said. Advocate Kul Shekhar Singh said the hearing, scheduled before Special Judge Rajat Verma of the Anti-Corruption Court, could not take place and would now be heard on Thursday. He added the accused side had not yet received a copy of the chargesheet.