Two of the eight men arrested in the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft case are under scrutiny for a marked rise in personal wealth — including a newly built farmhouse, a ₹65-lakh house, and plans to buy an SUV — as the local bar association announced it would fine any lawyer ₹5 lakh for representing the accused and alleged that senior trust officials may have been aware of the theft.
Background of the Case
The controversy erupted on June 7, when former Samajwadi Party MLA Pawan Pandey alleged that between ₹7 crore and ₹7.5 crore in devotee donations had been stolen or embezzled from the temple. The Uttar Pradesh government formed a three-member Special Investigation Team on June 13, after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust itself requested an inquiry.
According to an interim SIT report, around 70 instances of theft were recorded on CCTV footage between April 27 and June 5. Officials have not released an official estimate of the total amount stolen, though reports suggest the missing sum could range between ₹7 crore and ₹7.5 crore. Investigators suspect that donations may have been diverted since the temple opened to devotees in January 2024.
Eight people, including public servants and State Bank of India employees, have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody: Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, and Ramshankar Yadav, also known as Tinnu.
Authorities have recovered approximately ₹79.85 lakh from the accused. Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra resigned on June 26, citing moral responsibility, following an FIR registered the previous day.
Scrutiny of Accused’s Assets
Police are examining the financial records of two of the accused — Anukalp Mishra and his brother-in-law Lavkush Mishra — both of whom were part of the temple’s donation-counting team. According to local residents, Anukalp Mishra built a farmhouse on the outskirts of his village and purchased a house in Ayodhya, now estimated at around ₹65 lakh. Neighbours said he already owned a vehicle and was reportedly planning to buy a Mahindra Scorpio SUV.
Investigators are separately examining the finances of Lavkush Mishra, who lives in a rented house and is reported to have recently purchased a motorcycle valued at more than ₹1 lakh. Residents in Basava village said the Mishra family’s financial condition had visibly improved in recent years, describing a household that had previously faced financial difficulty.
Anukalp Mishra’s spending also came under scrutiny after he organised a seven-day religious programme in the village on April 30, featuring a religious preacher. Police have stated they are verifying whether these purchases align with the accused’s declared sources of income, and are examining bank records and property documents to determine whether any assets were acquired using misappropriated funds.
According to investigators, Anukalp Mishra was part of the team responsible for counting temple donations, and is alleged to have later helped Lavkush Mishra secure a position on the same counting team through an outsourcing agency. deccanherald
Ayodhya Bar Association Announces Boycott
Separately, the Ayodhya Bar Association on Monday announced it would impose a ₹5 lakh fine on any member who appears in court for the accused in the donation case. The decision was taken at a general body meeting of the association.
Bar Association Secretary Shailendra Jaiswal said the alleged theft of donations and offerings at the Ram Temple had hurt the sentiments of devotees, and that the accused did not deserve legal representation from local lawyers. He said the Faizabad bar unanimously decided that none of its members would appear for the accused.
Association President Kalika Prasad Mishra alleged in a video statement, which has since circulated on social media, that the theft involved a higher-level conspiracy. He said a theft of this scale could not have occurred without the knowledge of senior trust officials, naming Champat Rai, Gopal Rao, and Anil Mishra. He said a special committee had been formed to monitor the prosecution of the case.
Lawyers further warned that Champat Rai, Anil Mishra, and Gopal Rao should leave Ayodhya, or the city would be placed under blockade. The Bar Association noted that it had taken a similar position in the past, having previously refused to represent the accused in the 2005 terror attack case at the Ram Temple complex.
Supreme Court Declines Urgent Hearing
The Supreme Court has declined to hear on an urgent basis a petition seeking a court-monitored investigation into the donation case, stating that the matter would be taken up after the summer vacation. The petition was filed by advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, who alleged large-scale misuse of temple funds.
Reacting to the matter, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that ₹2,000 crore had been stolen from the Ram Mandir Trust and used to engineer political defections within the Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), claiming that “the main culprits are still working in the Trust.” Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal separately alleged that nearly ₹200 crore in cash, gold, and silver had gone missing from the temple.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called for a transparent investigation, questioning whether low-level employees could have disabled CCTV cameras and diverted large sums on their own, or whether more senior figures were involved. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, visiting Ayodhya on June 19, urged the public not to draw premature conclusions and asked devotees to await the SIT’s findings.
