Police have recovered counterfeit donation receipt books bearing the name and logo of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, widening the investigation into alleged theft of offerings at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and raising fresh questions over whether a parallel fund-collection network operated outside the official accounting system.
The recovery came during the custodial interrogation of three accused — Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey — who were taken by investigators to a location near the 14-Kosi Parikrama Marg. Officers suspect the site may have been used to count and distribute cash siphoned from temple donations. The receipt books, described as old printed material closely resembling the trust’s earlier receipt format, are now being examined to establish when they were used, how many donors may have been approached and whether the collections were separate from the cash allegedly removed during counting.
Investigators believe the forged receipts were issued to devotees who believed they were contributing directly to the temple trust. The alleged practice is suspected to date from the period before the trust moved to a digital receipt system for donations. Once online receipts became mandatory, the use of printed books is believed to have stopped, a detail that has become central to reconstructing the timeline of the suspected fraud.
Eight people have been arrested in the case so far. They have been identified as Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava. Cash of about ₹79.85 lakh has been recovered from seven of the accused, while no cash was recovered from Srivastava. The first information report also refers to “others”, leaving open the possibility of more names being added as the investigation moves from cash theft to a broader examination of donation handling.
The Special Investigation Team was set up on June 13 after the trust sought an official probe into allegations of financial irregularities. The team, headed by Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, with Lucknow range inspector general Kiran S and finance department special secretary Neelratan Kumar as members, examined records related to collection, counting, custody and supervision of donations. The FIR was lodged on June 25 on the basis of the preliminary findings.
The case has exposed alleged weaknesses in the way cash offerings were handled at one of the country’s most watched religious institutions. Investigators have focused on the role of people attached to the donation-counting unit, including staff linked to an outsourced cash management agency. Six of the arrested accused are understood to have been involved directly in counting offerings, while Srivastava was associated with cash-counting operations and Tinnu Yadav has been described as close to a senior trust functionary.
CCTV footage, financial records, statements of accused and digital evidence are being used to test the claims made during interrogation. One line of inquiry involves whether cash from multiple donation boxes was mixed before counting, making it difficult to trace box-wise collections and creating scope for diversion. Another concerns how those assigned to counting duties were selected, supervised and rotated, particularly when large volumes of cash and valuables were being handled daily.
The trust has also undergone a leadership shake-up. The resignations of general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra have been accepted, while an interim secretary has been appointed and a committee has been tasked with identifying candidates for a newly created chief executive position. The temple had received about ₹582 crore in offerings by March 31, underscoring the scale of public trust involved and the administrative challenge of managing donations transparently.
Treasurer Govindadev Giri has publicly described the episode as shameful and said the trust was hurt by the alleged theft. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said action is being taken against those against whom evidence has emerged, while arguing that the conduct of a few accused should not be used to malign the entire trust or Ayodhya. He has also indicated that investigators have found firm evidence against eight people among nearly 150 persons connected in different ways with donation counting and management.
