Ayodhya

The Ayodhya Police have moved a local court seeking a seven-day police remand for two accused, Tinnu Yadav and Manish Yadav, in connection with the alleged theft of donations from the Ram Temple.

The police, while submitting their plea, emphasised that custodial interrogation of the duo is essential to delve deeper into the matter.

"The police told the court that custodial interrogation is crucial to uncover the conspiracy, trace the money trail, and recover further evidence," stated the Ayodhya Police.

On Wednesday, two more accused arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations meant for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple were taken from the District Jail in Ayodhya after a court granted the police a 14-hour remand for custodial interrogation.

The accused have been identified as Subhash Chandra Srivastava, a retired bank employee who supervised the temple's cash-counting operations, and Ramashankar Mishra.

Police officials escorted the duo from the jail to conduct day-long questioning as part of the investigation into the alleged misappropriation of temple donations.

So far, the police have interrogated four other accused, Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey, during their police custody remand.

Ayodhya court had extended the judicial custody of all eight accused in the Ram Mandir donation embezzlement case by 14 days on Monday. The accused appeared before the court through video conferencing and are scheduled to appear again on July 27.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Temple may submit its final report to the Uttar Pradesh government within the next 24 to 48 hours (on Thursday or Friday), sources said on Wednesday.

Sources also indicate that the SIT's investigation timeline will not be extended any further. The SIT was granted an extension of 15 days on July 1 by the Uttar Pradesh government.

The extension was given to enable the SIT to widen the scope of its probe and conduct a comprehensive inquiry into all aspects of the case.

The preliminary report of the SIT into the Ram Mandir donation row has stated that prima facie, around 70 suspicious incidents were captured on CCTV between April 27 and June 5, 2026 and in CCTV footage, counting staff were seen concealing wads of cash.

The preliminary report points to lapses and says there was no frisking at entry and exit, poor control over personal belongings, and cash from multiple donation boxes counted together were among the reasons that made the crime possible.

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The report mentions recovery of around Rs 78.94 lakh from some employees before the investigation. An additional Rs 2.25 lakh was allegedly recovered from the bathroom attached to the counting room on June 4, 2026.

The report also states that no prima facie evidence was found to support social media claims about missing silver bricks or other valuable offerings.