• Source:JND

Jagran Correspondent, Ayodhya: A case of embezzlement has come to light involving funds deposited in donation boxes by devotees visiting the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya. According to Jagran, some employees involved in counting the funds were involved in the fraud. Four such suspected employees have been identified and questioned with some money already recovered.

Staff from the trust, security, and agencies have tacitly acknowledged the incident, but no one is officially giving a statement. Those responsible for the temple management have also maintained silence.

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Akhilesh Yadav Posts About Theft

On Sunday, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav highlighted the incident in a post on X. He called the government's silence suspicious and urged the court to take suo motu cognizance. Following his tweet, local SP leaders also became vocal.

"This is extremely sensitive news for devotees of Lord Ram worldwide that crores of rupees of offerings for the Ram Temple have been found missing. This is a deeply embarrassing situation for the temple trust. No one is willing to come forward to provide an explanation. We demand that the court take suo motu cognizance, as this is directly related to the deep faith in Lord Ram held by the entire Sanatani community globally. The government's silence is suspicious,” Yadav said.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Is Responsible For Collecting Donation

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has placed approximately four dozen donation boxes in front of all the temples, including the Ram Temple, and at various locations along the entire darshan route. After paying obeisance to Ram Lalla and other deities, devotees donate cash as per their wish into these donation boxes. This donation amount is collected daily and counted by the Trust. The Trust has authorised the State Bank of India (SBI) for this purpose.

SBI has engaged a private agency to count the funds. Trust and SBI employees are also involved in this process. As per Jagran sources, during the counting, the funds were gradually manipulated. This incident was detected on Friday by CCTV surveillance. This camera was installed secretly.

Sources further said that the police detained four suspected employees and interrogated them, and on their information, recovered some money from the passenger convenience center. On learning about the matter, a trust official threatened to file a First Information Report (FIR), but later, under pressure, he too remained silent.

There are doubts of collusion between the temple management and SBI employees in the embezzlement case.

Temple Officials On Missing Funds

In a statement, General Secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai said, "The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra regularly conducts audits of its various activities from time to time. The hundi counting room is also audited periodically... This process continues for several days. The same procedure is currently underway. So far, no notable irregularities or issues have come to notice.”

Ram Temple administrator Gopal Rao stated that no such case was known to him. Superintendent of Security for the Ram Janmabhoomi complex, Balaramachari Dubey, dismissed the incident as mere rumour and said he was unaware of any such incident.

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Rs 5 Lakh Recovered From Account Of Employee

The trust has also recovered Rs 5 lakh from the account of an employee involved in the donation box misappropriation. Sources said that when the police questioned Avinash Shukla, the employee involved in the counting, he confirmed that the money was in his account.

The police team then took him to the relevant bank and returned the embezzled money from his account to the trust's account. Sources also revealed that the trust's preliminary investigation revealed a group of four or five employees involved in the counting process. This same group was continuously embezzling funds from the donation box.

(With Inputs From Lavlesh Kumar Mishra)


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