Lucknow: The investigating agency has given a big relief in the famous case related to theft of donations and offerings in the grand Ram temple of Ayodhya. In the final report submitted to the government by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), former general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai and former trustee Anil Mishra have got a clean chit. In this report filed at the end of the investigation, the names of neither of the two officers are mentioned as accused. This report submitted to the Uttar Pradesh Government has now been handed over to the Trust for further processing. According to sources, this final report of the SIT includes the names of only those eight people who have already been arrested by the police and sent to jail.
SIT's clean chit to Anil Mishra
In the preliminary report submitted by the SIT on June 23, it became clear that incidents of donation theft had taken place in the temple. The investigation also revealed the fact that without giving formal information to the police, around Rs 80 lakh was recovered at the trust level. Champat Rai and Anil Mishra had to resign from their respective posts.
Based on the report, on June 25, an FIR was lodged at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station on the complaint of trust member Krishna Mohan. Taking action, the police named and arrested Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.
Ram temple donation theft case
The issue of theft of donation money in the Ram Temple complex had gained momentum when Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav publicly raised the issue on June 7. Although, initially Champat Rai had released a video calling all these allegations as fabricated and baseless, but the attacks by the opposition parties were not stopping. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh had already been attacking Champat Rai in matters related to land purchase. Amidst the ever-increasing circle of political pressure and allegations, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust itself demanded an investigation. After this, on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a three-member SIT was formed on June 13. IG Range Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neil Ratan Kumar were included in this investigation team led by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant.
Theft incident was captured 70 times in CCTV
According to the highlights of the investigation report, CCTV footage of the temple complex was scrutinized between April 27 and June 5, 2026. In these, suspicious activities of hiding cash by the employees on about 70 different occasions were clearly recorded. The SIT made special mention in its report that the standards set by the Trust and State Bank of India (SBI) were not being strictly followed during donation management. Not conducting regular searches of the employees and security personnel posted at the entry and exit points of the temple also turned out to be a major lapse in the security arrangements.
Supreme Court is strict, asks for final report in sealed envelope
Here, the Supreme Court has also taken cognizance of this entire episode and directed the SIT to complete the investigation impartially and quickly. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana has made it clear that the SIT will present its investigation report before the court in a sealed cover. The bench believes that after this report, concrete guidelines will be issued in future for transparent management of donations given by devotees and to improve security. While ordering the report not to be made public at present, the court has given liberty to the petitioners to convey their constructive suggestions to the SIT through the office of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. Even though the SIT of the state government has given relief to the former officials, the eyes of the entire country are now fixed on the ongoing investigation under the supervision of the apex court.