Police scrutiny of the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has widened to the assets and financial transactions of Anukalp Mishra, a 22-year-old cash-counting staffer suspected of playing a central role in the diversion of devotees’ offerings.
Investigators are examining how Mishra, who was drawing about ₹15,000 a month, allegedly came to control assets and lifestyle markers far beyond his declared income. The assets under scrutiny include a house in Ayodhya valued at about ₹65 lakh, a farmhouse under construction in his native village, a motorcycle worth more than ₹1 lakh and a Mahindra Scorpio SUV that investigators believe was booked shortly before the case came to light.
The probe has placed the temple’s internal cash-handling system under intense examination, with police tracing the movement of donations from collection boxes to counting rooms and bank deposits. The case has already led to the arrest of eight accused persons and recovery of ₹79.85 lakh in cash allegedly linked to the theft.
Those arrested include Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava. The accused were associated with the process of counting cash and valuables offered by devotees at the temple. A court in Ayodhya has sent them to 14 days of judicial custody as investigators continue to build the money trail.
Police have also examined the role of Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra’s brother-in-law, whose entry into the cash-counting team is being studied as part of the conspiracy angle. Investigators suspect that access to the counting process may have enabled a small group to siphon off donations before the funds entered the temple’s formal accounting channel.
Searches were carried out at the residences of all eight accused as part of evidence-gathering. Police are reviewing bank records, property documents, digital payments, call data, CCTV footage and statements from staff involved in donation management. The FIR leaves scope for more names to be added, indicating that investigators have not ruled out a wider network.
The investigation has also moved beyond the arrested staff. Ayodhya Police recorded the statement of Champat Rai, who resigned as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust after the controversy erupted. Trustee Anil Mishra also stepped down. The Trust has said it is cooperating with the investigation and has maintained that donations remain safe, but the departures have intensified public scrutiny over accountability within the body managing one of the country’s most high-profile religious institutions.
The Supreme Court on 29 June declined to grant an urgent hearing to a plea seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation-led, multi-agency probe into the alleged embezzlement. The petitioners had sought a broader inquiry, arguing that the scale and sensitivity of the allegations required oversight beyond the local police investigation. The court did not shut the door on legal proceedings, but it refused to treat the matter as requiring immediate intervention.
Political pressure has grown alongside the criminal investigation. Opposition leaders have demanded accountability from the Trust’s senior functionaries and questioned how money could allegedly be diverted from a closely watched religious project. The BJP, which has long projected the Ram Temple as a defining national achievement, faces an embarrassment as the case unfolds in Ayodhya, a city central to its political messaging.
The Faizabad Bar Association has also entered the controversy, resolving that its members should not defend the eight accused and calling for a central probe. The decision has underlined the public sensitivity of the allegations, though legal experts have cautioned that every accused remains entitled to representation and a fair trial.
