The police on Sunday raided seven locations linked to six accused in the Ram Mandir donation theft case, investigating financial investments and transactions by them since their appointment to temple duties.
Six police teams visited the homes of the accused, questioned their families, and examined documents related to property purchases and investments. The teams preserved copies of these documents as evidence.
The raids were conducted under the direction of Investigating Officer, Ayodhya Circle Officer Ashutosh Tripathi. The raids yielded investments made in various items, property purchases, jewellery, credit and debit cards, bank passbooks, and other documents, along with a large amount of cash.
However, the police did not provide detailed information about the cash and jewellery.
Raid at Tinnu Yadav, his nephew's house
At around 10:30 AM on Sunday, the police team first arrived at the home of Ramshankar Yadav, aka Tinnu Yadav and his nephew Manish Yadav in Swargadwar Mohalla, Ayodhya. Police officers searched the two adjacent houses.
The CO went to the house and examined the documents while police personnel searched the rooms. Investment and purchase-related documents and jewellery were found at Tinnu's house, which have been seized. Some cash was also found.
ALSO READ: Luxurious Homes, Cars, And Posh Plots: How Ram Mandir Donation Theft Accused Amassed Sudden Wealth
Raid at Ramashankar Mishra's house
The second team raided the home of Ramashankar Mishra in Nayaghat. Relatives and neighbours present there were questioned, and documents were examined. Two separate police teams raided the residences of the accused Avinash Shukla and Anukalp Mishra in Kaushalpuri Colony.
Raid at Avinash Shukla's house
Meanwhile, Avinash's brother, Abhishek Shukla, was questioned for hours. During the interrogation, he denied standing by his acts and sought action.
He said, "I don't know what my brother was up to. If he committed theft, he would definitely be punished. I will not stand by him."
Lavkush Mishra's house raided
Lavkush Mishra's house in Thakuran Phagouli under the Rudauli Kotwali area was also raided. The cops questioned his grandfather, Jagdamba Prasad Mishra. They gathered various information related to the family.
According to a Shujaganj correspondent, Sub-Inspector Abhishek Singh and two constables remained on duty throughout the day. Jagdamba Prasad, who had recently returned from a pilgrimage, defended his grandson, Luvkush, claiming he was innocent. "Junior officers were being implicated to protect the bigwigs," he said.
Rudauli police station in-charge inspector Sanjay Maurya said that details regarding Lavkush's property are being collected.
Anukalp Mishra's house raided
A raid was also conducted at the ancestral home of Lavkush's brother-in-law and the mastermind of this case, Anukalp Mishra, located in Basawan village, Milkipur.
Anukalp's sister and other relatives present at his home were questioned, and various documents were seized.
According to the Milkipur correspondent, during the raid led by Inayatnagar Police Station Inspector Rajesh Singh, her elderly grandfather and grandmother were present at the scene. His grandparents had no knowledge of the incident. Police went inside the house and searched the rooms, but found nothing. The neighbours did not reveal anything during questioning.
House of retd bank employee raided
The police team had raided the house of Subhash Chandra Srivastava, a retired bank employee who was the counting in-charge, at Devkol on Friday, but neither any cash was recovered from his house, nor is there any information about finding any jewellery or other documents.