Uttar Pradesh: Champat Rai, General Secretary of the Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust, has resigned on moral grounds. Following suit, Trust member Anil Mishra has also submitted his resignation. Both officials were under pressure to resign amidst allegations regarding the embezzlement of Ram Mandir donations.
It is worth noting that on Thursday—a day prior—a named FIR was registered against eight individuals at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station following a period of significant administrative upheaval and an intensive investigation into the theft of temple offerings. This high-profile case was officially registered based on a written complaint filed by Krishna Mohan, a newly appointed trustee of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Sources familiar with law enforcement matters indicate that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted for this sensitive case had submitted its confidential preliminary report to Additional Home Secretary Sanjay Prasad. Significant punitive action was taken against the accused by the local police only after receiving the green signal from the government.
According to police records, the FIR names Ram Shankar Yadav (alias Tinu), Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Karunesh Pandey, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramashankar Mishra, and Subhash Chandra Srivastava. Cases have been registered against all these named accused under Sections 306, 316, 317, and 61 of the new legal provisions.
The serious charges invoked primarily relate to the embezzlement of temple funds, fraud, and criminal conspiracy. Acting swiftly, the police have arrested four key accused—Subhash Srivastava, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, and Lavkush Mishra. Meanwhile, multiple special police teams have been formed to apprehend the other named accused who remain at large. Regarding these legal developments, Ayodhya Circle Officer (CO) Ashutosh Tiwari has officially stated that no new FIR has been registered.
