Ram Temple donation case:Police seek custody of Avinash Shukla after ₹20.4 lakh recovery, SBI officials under scanner

THe Ayodhya law on wed filed an application program in the margaret court of additional dominion judge (anti-corruption) Rajat Varma, seeking a two-day police custody remand for Avinash Shukla, from whose house the highest amount of money was recovered in connection with the Ram Temple donation controversy.The developments came a day after Ashutosh Tewari, the Ayodhya circle officer and the investigating officer in the case, interrogated Shukla in Ayodhya jail. Shukla named some trust officials, according to a person familiar with the matter.Also read | Six of eight held over Ram Temple donation irregularities were employed by Varanasi security firmThe eight men arrested so far include Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav ‘Tinnu’, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra, and Karunesh Pandey. Anukalp Mishra and Luvkush Mishra are related to each other, and also to trust member Anil Mishra, who resigned last week along with trust general secretary Champat Rai. Ram Shankar Yadav – an aide of Rai – and Manish Yadav are related.Separately, the police carried out fresh raids at the residences of three accused—Avinash Shukla, Luvkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey—and sought more details from Rai about the staff at the temple.Irregularities in Ram Temple donation collectionsLast week, the police recovered ₹79,85,493 from eight arrested men in connection with alleged irregularities in the Ram Temple donation collections. The highest amount, around ₹20.40 lakh, was found at properties linked to Avinash Shukla, said a police officer who did not wished to be named. ₹12 lakh was found from Shukla’s room and around ₹8.4 lakh was returned by his brother to the Trust last week.Also read | How donations were counted at Ayodhya's Ram temple and how it differed from other UP templesForeign currency of $900-$1000 was also shown to have been recovered from Avinash Shukla, according to the officer quoted above.Other recoveries included ₹18.07 lakh from Karunesh Pandey, ₹16.82 lakh from Anukalp Mishra, ₹14.25 lakh from Lavkush Mishra, ₹1 lakh from Ram Shankar Yadav ‘Tinnu’, ₹7.32 lakh from Rama Shankar Mishra and ₹2 lakh from Manish Yadav, according to police officers. No recovery was shown from Subhash Srivastava’s house.Apart from the eight arrested men, the police have also sought details of State Bank of India staff tasked with supervising the cash-counting job at Ram temple. In particular, two SBI Grade 3 staffers who regularly supervised the cash-counting work are on the probe team’s radar, a senior police officer familiar with the matter said.Also read | ₹23 lakh, security agency in focus, ₹80 lakh recovered: Inside Ram temple donation probe so far">Land parcel worth ₹23 lakh, security agency in focus, ₹80 lakh recovered: Inside Ram temple donation probe so farThis officer said both employees were present while cash was counted in front of them and deposited in the bank.“Embezzlement of such a huge amount of donation-money could not have occurred without their knowledge,” he added.According to a senior police official who did not wish to be quoted, the probe team will also question employees of the Varanasi- based Sainik Security Services, the agency which provided additional manpower to the bank.HT had reported on Wednesday that six of the eight arrested men were on the payroll of the Varanasi-based firm.All eight arrested accused, including Avinash Shukla, are currently lodged in Ayodhya jail. On Wednesday, the district judge contacted Shukla via video conferencing and asked whether he had a lawyer to represent him.As the Faizabad bar association has decided to not represent any accused, Shukla had no lawyer.The judge apprised the District Legal Services Authority and the hearing for police custody remand will take place on Thursday via video conferencing.“Details of all eight accused in jail at present, the SBI staff deployed in Ram Mandir and all others associated in any way with the cash-counting job in Ram Mandir are being collected,” said the senior police officer.“Details (Aadhaar and PAN) of all eight accused and SBI staff on radar have been sent to various departments, including the development authorities, income tax and revenue, to extract information about their financial status,” the senior officer added.The controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth ₹5 crore to ₹7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings.On June 13, the state government set up a special investigation team at the request of the temple trust. The panel — comprising Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Lucknow Range inspector-general Kiran S, and special secretary (finance) Neel Ratan — conducted a preliminary inquiry in Ayodhya between June 15 and 20 and flagged prima facie irregularities in the handling of cash and valuables offered by devotees.According to investigators, the probe prima facie revealed a systematic diversion of cash during the collection and counting process. The SIT alleged that a portion of the offerings was siphoned off before being deposited into the temple’s designated bank account, leading to the arrest of eight employees associated with handling and counting donations on June 26.Last week, a first information report was registered against eight named accused and other unidentified people under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5), relating to offences such as criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.