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Donation Theft and Investigation at Ram Temple Trust

Thursday, July 2, 2026
5 min read
Donation Theft and Investigation at Ram Temple Trust

The donation theft at the Ram Temple has really stirred things up inside the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. It’s caused a fresh churn. A crucial meeting is set for July 6, and it’s all about the future of two big names: former general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.

Sources are saying they might bring up removing both of them from the trust at that meeting. That kind of vote needs a two-thirds majority to pass. The trust has twelve members, so you need at least eight votes for it to stick.

And things aren't just about the people inside. Senior VHP functionaries are expected to show up too. Dinesh Chandra and Bajrang Lal Bangra are names floating around as potential attendees.

Rai and Mishra had actually resigned back on June 27th, citing "moral grounds," right after the embezzlement got public. The opposition has been calling out serious mismanagement and a total lack of transparency lately.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team, the SIT, is still digging into this. They’ve been given an extra fifteen days to keep looking. That suggests they think there are still major pieces missing from the picture.

Rai himself was grilled by the SIT. He denied involvement in the theft, saying it was on his complaint that suspects were arrested. But things got murky quickly. Sources tell us Rai claimed he had actually installed hidden cameras to catch the theft. He said he felt "betrayed" by those he trusted. That’s what he told the police during questioning.

He was questioned about everything the sequence of events, how they counted donations, and what the trust did internally. The police haven't named him an accused yet. They are treating him like a witness for now.

The investigation is really focusing on those systemic gaps in how the temple handled its donation counting system. That’s where things seem to have gone wrong most severely.

One big issue they’re looking at involves that outsourcing agency. Allegedly, their deployment broke the aGreement signed between the Trust and the State Bank of India about handling the donations.

They are also checking if anyone hired through that agency actually had proper police checks before they were put into these sensitive roles. Background checks, mandatory verification it seems like something was skipped entirely.

Even while this whole mess is unfolding, the trust has started trying to fix security holes. They’re plugging gaps that allegedly let the theft happen in the first place. Physical frisking for everyone involved in counting donations is now supposed to be mandatory at every entry and exit point. Something they apparently didn't have before.

The focus shifts to the alleged kingpin, Avinash Shukla . Police are still pushing for another forty-eight hours of custody from him. The court will decide on that later Thursday.

During his interrogation, Shukla allegedly admitted that stolen cash was hidden in washrooms within the temple complex before being smuggled out in small bits to dodge detection. He also claimed the whole group had mapped out the counting center meticulously. They knew where the CCTV cameras were, all the blind spots, entry points, and staff routes.

Investigators suggest these guys exploited those camera blind spots by creating a human shield around whoever was taking cash from the counted donations. That way, they could block the cameras and hide the theft.

Shukla also pointed out that one of the keys to the high-security counting room was still with co-accused Ramshankar Yadav, or Tinnu. Even though Tinnu had no official job in the cash count, he held one key. And another key? That reportedly sat with some SBI officials who were supervising the whole exercise.

The biggest haul of cash recovered so far came from Shukla himself. It’s a grim picture overall.

That July 6 meeting feels incredibly significant now. It comes right when scrutiny over how the Ram Temple administration is working has reached a fever pitch following this alleged theft. The investigation isn't just about the thieves anymore. Agencies are looking at administrative failures, who was accountable inside the Trust structure, and what role officials played in that counting system. Former employees have also brought up allegations against people connected to the trust, pushing investigators to look at bigger oversight issues too.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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