Rs 1 Lakh To 20 Lakh: Who Looted How Much In Ram Temple Theft Case

The investigation into the theft of offerings at the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya has found significant information about who took the largest amount. Police documents accessed by NDTV showed that an accused identified as Avinash Shukla took home over Rs 20 lakh, the highest amount pocketed by any of the thieves.

During interrogation, seven other accused told the police that the theft and embezzlement happened at a time when the temple counted the offerings from the public. The documents also showed that the temple trust had already recovered some of the money from the accused before the police intervened.

Apart from Avinash Shukla, the other accused are Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ramakant Mishra, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu, and Manish Kumar Yadav. All of them are in judicial custody. A special investigation team is looking into the case.

According to police documents prepared at the time of his arrest, Avinash Shukla confirmed that the theft occurred during the counting of the offerings. Based on information given by him, the police in the presence of the temple trust officials recovered Rs 20 lakh in cash, 1,121 US dollars, a silver-like metal object, two gold chains and a ring.

This is considered the largest recovery made during the investigation so far.

The interrogation of another accused, Anukalp Mishra, led the police to recover Rs 16 lakh. The amount recovered from the other accused are as follows: Rs 14 lakh from Lavkush Mishra, Rs 7 lakh from Ramakant Mishra, Rs 18 lakh from Karunesh Pandey, Rs 2 lakh from Manish Kumar Yadav and Rs 1 lakh from Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.

Sources said the roles of Ram Shankar Yadav and Avinash Shukla remained a large focus of the investigation. The SIT is now investigating the entire financial network, assets and the exact method used in the theft.

Some officials associated with the temple are also reportedly under the SIT's watch. It is likely to give a final report after July 10. Based on that, action could be taken against more accused and the full picture could emerge.