E-Paper
Ex-Ram Temple official Champat Rai gets clean chit in donation theft case weeks after resignation
The SIT also cleared the name of former trustee Anil Mishra. A second SIT is continuing its probe into the case.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged donation theft at the Ayodhya Ram Temple gave a clean chit to the Trust's former general secretary, Champat Rai in its first report, people aware of the developments said.
The home department has examined the report and handed it to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for further action.
According to people aware of the matter, the final report does not name former trust general secretary Champat Rai nor ex-trust member Anil Mishra.
ALSO READ: Ram temple donation ‘theft’: SIT submits final report, Uttar Pradesh govt forwards it to Trust
Both the members had resigned from their positions at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on June 27 amid an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities involving temple donations.
A second SIT, constituted under the Supreme Court's supervision, is continuing its probe 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 a first information report (FIR) was registered in Ayodhya on June 25.
ALSO READ: Cops collect evidence from SBI officials in Ayodhya Ram Temple donation case
Eight arrested in Ram temple fund theft case
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.
Ram temple fund theft controversy
The controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged donations worth ₹5 crore to ₹7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings.
On June 13, the state government set up the SIT on the request of the temple trust. A preliminary inquiry was conducted in Ayodhya between June 15 and 20.
The SIT scrutinised the entire donation management chain, including collection boxes, cash counting, storage, accounting procedures, access control and CCTV surveillance. The preliminary inquiry flagged prima facie irregularities in the handling of cash and valuables offered by devotees.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust
After the landmark 2019 Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, the temple trust was set up by the Government of India to oversee the construction of the temple and was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020, according to its website. Out of its 15 members, 12 were set up by the government and in its first meeting, another three members were picked, said the trust’s website.
The trust received donations worth ₹82.78 crore between April 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026, according to the details furnished by the trust before its executive committee during a meeting in Ayodhya on March 21.
