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The first Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the alleged theft of offerings at the Ayodhya Ram temple has submitted its final report to the Uttar Pradesh government. The home department has examined the report and handed it over to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for further action.
According to sources, the final report does not name former trust general secretary Champat Rai or ex-trust member Anil Mishra. A second SIT, constituted under the supervision of the Supreme Court, is continuing its investigation into the case.
The first SIT was constituted on June 13 on the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath following a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. It was headed by Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant with inspector general of police (Lucknow range) Kiran S and special secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar as members.
The SIT submitted its preliminary report to the government on June 23, following which an FIR was registered in Ayodhya on June 25. The case was registered at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station on a complaint by trust member Krishna Mohan. Eight accused named in the FIR — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu — have been arrested and are in jail.
The preliminary SIT report had found that cash thefts were detected around 70 times in the counting room between April 27 and June 5, 2026. CCTV footage allegedly showed employees repeatedly concealing and taking away cash. The report also pointed to non-compliance with the standard operating procedure jointly followed by the trust and the State Bank of India, including the absence of proper frisking at entry and exit points.
The second SIT, headed by IG Lucknow range Kiran S, is currently overseeing the investigation in the case registered in Ayodhya pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions.
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