AYODHYA The Ayodhya police are zeroing in on the assets of eight jailed suspects as part of investigations into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple. The focus has sharpened after authorities uncovered a major real estate purchase by one of the prime suspects, Luvkush Mishra who recently acquired a land parcel valued at over ₹23 lakh in the Sahadatganj area of the temple town.
Investigators reportedly stumbled upon the property details while scanning the mobile phone of Mishra’s father-in-law during a recent raid on the suspect’s relatives. The probe team also found that a significant portion of the allegedly embezzled funds was funneled into consumer goods, with suspects purchasing both essential and non-essential items, including smartphones, washing machines and various household appliances.
“We are collecting financial details of all the accused, their family members and relatives with the help of Aadhaar and PAN cards,” a senior police officer involved in the probe confirmed on Tuesday.
Investigators are carefully comparing the financial status of the suspects before they secured their positions at the Ram Temple against the sudden improvement in their lifestyles shortly after.
“The total yearly income of all the accused will be ascertained from the time they got the job in the Ram temple. Thereafter, it will be multiplied by the number of years they worked there,” explained the investigating officer.
“Of that total income, approximately 70% will be considered as standard living expenses and 30% as investments. The probe will proceed strictly on these lines,” he said.
The Ayodhya police will build the case against the accused on these grounds in the anti-corruption court, he added.
Furthermore, authorities are actively investigating whether the suspects’ extended families were used as fronts to park the stolen funds in a deliberate strategy to conceal the money trail.
The accused were arrested on Friday, a day after the UP Police lodged a case in the matter. An FIR, lodged on the complaint of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple, named Ramashankar Yadav, alias Tinnu, an aide to the trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, and seven others.
A police officer said investigators are examining the alleged role of Yadav, who is among those arrested, in the handling and movement of donations. “The other arrested accused are Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ramashankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava, a retired bank employee who was in charge of counting donations,” he added.
The accused were booked under BNS sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61, and 3(5), related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft, and criminal conspiracy.
