Attendant, Ex-Bank Staff, The Man With Key: 8 Arrested In Ram Temple Donation Row

When the row, the alleged siphoning off funds at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, first broke out earlier this month, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak called it a "false narrative".

"Those trying to spread rumours about Shri Ram Temple are attempting to create a false narrative. The people of the state understand such politics," Brajesh Pathak said on June 8.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, an independent trust which manages the shrine, too denied any wrongdoing.

Trust general secretary Champat Rai said representatives of the trust and the State Bank of India were involved in periodic audits and that nothing had come to light during the ongoing exercise.

But things escalated quickly.

Nearly a week later, the UP government constituted a Special Investigation Team, or SIT, on June 13 at the request of the Trust.

Read: Ayodhya Ram Temple Donation Row: How Boxes, Bank Teams Track Funds

The SIT submitted its preliminary report to the government on June 23.

"We have submitted the report to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home). This is an initial report and we have submitted it to him. The details are confidential, so we cannot disclose anything at the moment. We have made our findings available to him," SIT member Vijay Vishwas Pant said.

Authorities have not shared further details, stating that the contents of the report are under review

Two days later, eight persons named in an FIR over the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple were arrested, senior officials said.

Nearly Rs 7-7.5 crore is reportedly missing.

Those named in the FIR -- Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu -- were associated with the process of counting cash and valuables received as donations at the temple, an official said.

"All the accused were in Ayodhya itself and were arrested late Thursday night. Further questioning is underway. Police are preparing to present them before a magistrate," a senior official told news agency PTI.

The case has been registered under sections 306 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 317 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, among other provisions.

Opposition leaders have described the FIR as an "eyewash", alleging that it does not fix accountability on senior functionaries of the Trust, including general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.

Who are the 8 Arrested in Ram Mandir Donation Theft Case:

Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav is said to be a former driver of the Trust's general secretary Champat Rai. He was associated with VHP's Karsevakpuram who used to count donations. Tinnu is the most talked-about face of this controversy. It is said that the keys of the donation boxes used to remain with Tinnu and being close to the members of the Trust, he used to act completely arbitrarily. Tinnu has denied any role in cash counting and blamed unnamed "jealous people" for the allegations.

Ramashankar Mishra alias Ravi Mishra was also in the work of counting donations. He faces allegations of hatching a conspiracy along with the employees, who had put his son and son-in-law also into the work of counting money.

Anukalp Mishra - the son of Ramashankar Mishra, who is an accused in the case - was involved in the work of counting donations. Anukalp Mishra is also a relative of Trustee Anil Mishra.

Lavkush Mishra is the son-in-law of Ramashankar Mishra's, who is an accused in the case. It is alleged that the work of disposing of the embezzled money was the responsibility of Lavkush. In the beginning of the investigation, there were allegations of money being recovered from his house as well.

Avinash Shukla, who is being described as that attendant of the temple, is alleged to have been involved in the manipulation of money. It is claimed that he was an important member involved in the syndicate. Rs 5 lakh were recovered from Avinash's account.

Manish Yadav, who is the nephew of Tinnu Yadav, was also involved in the donation counting process. The stolen money was recovered from Manish Yadav's house as well.

Subhash Shrivastava, a former bank employee, was in charge of the cash-counting staff.

Karunesh Pandey is accused of manipulating the receipts of money.

The Trust had authorised the SBI to count cash. The SBI, in turn, had engaged a private agency for counting.

Ram Mandir has been receiving huge donations ever since its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024.

According to annual reports, which came in September 2025, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust reported annual earnings of nearly Rs 327 crore during FY 2024-25. Donations contributed Rs 153 crore while interest income accounted for Rs 173 crore.

The Trust reported an average daily visitor count of 70,000 to 80,000, rising two to three times during weekends and festivals.

A team of 14 people, which includes 11 bank employees and three from the temple trust, counts the offerings in four donation boxes.

A temple trust camp office in-charge Prakash Gupta had earlier told news agency IANS that donations received at counters are accepted only against receipts and suggested that any discrepancy, if established, could be linked to the counting of money deposited in donation boxes rather than receipt-based collections.