Lucknow

The Uttar Pradesh government has extended the tenure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya by another 15 days, officials said on Wednesday.

According to officials, the extension has been granted to enable the SIT to carry out a more detailed investigation and broaden the scope of its inquiry.

In an official statement, the government said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the extension after the SIT sought additional time to thoroughly examine various aspects of the case.

"The Chief Minister has extended the deadline for the SIT investigating the Ayodhya donation-related case until July 15. The SIT requested more time to conduct a comprehensive probe into different dimensions of the matter. Accepting the request, the Chief Minister directed the team to submit its final report by July 15," the statement said.

The three-member SIT was constituted on June 13 and was initially given 15 days to investigate the allegations.

Based on its preliminary report submitted on June 23, an FIR was registered on June 25. Subsequently, eight individuals — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested in connection with the case.

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The SIT is headed by Vijay Vishwas Pant, IAS, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow, and includes Kiran S, IPS, Inspector General of Police, and Neel Ratan, Special Secretary in the Finance Department.