‘Don’t test Ram devotees’: Yogi on Ayodhya temple donation theft allegations

4 min readUpdated: Jun 26, 2026 02:30 PM IST

UP CM Yogi Adityanath said action will be taken against those responsible for the Ram Mandir thefts (PTI).

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said his government’s intention is clear in the Ram temple donation theft case. “Everything will become clear. But do not test Ram devotees, stop playing with their faith. If there are no facts or evidence, stop the accusations. If there is evidence, present it before the SIT,” he said.

The Ram Mandir theft case involves a major financial scandal regarding the alleged misappropriation of lakhs of rupees in cash and valuable offerings, like gold and silver, donated by devotees at the Ayodhya Ram temple.

Just months after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was set up, an audit of accounts revealed serious concerns over its functioning, describing the management as “highly unprofessional”. The audit also flagged the lack of a “systematic record” of donations.

Six years later, The Indian Express reported, the auditor’s key recommendations to introduce a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for streamlined administration remained unimplemented. The issue came into the limelight now amid allegations of misappropriation of donations. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) submitting its preliminary report to the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday.

Addressing a public meeting in UP’s Deoria, Yogi Adityanath further targeted the Opposition, saying: “One side used to say that lord Ram doesn’t even exist, meaning these people wanted to deny Ayodhya itself. They kept fighting the case in court continuously, kept fielding armies of lawyers against the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, and the other side is the one that would wield sticks and fire bullets at those chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”

#WATCH | Deoria, UP: CM Yogi Adityanath says, “One side used to say that lord Ram doesn’t even exist, meaning these people wanted to deny Ayodhya itself. They kept fighting the case in court continuously, kept fielding armies of lawyers against the construction of the Ram… pic.twitter.com/WJIE9LwL7S

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 26, 2026

Targeting the SP, Yogi Adityanath further said, “There is another side that used to open fire at those chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Those saying faith has been compromised used to commit riots during Ram Navami and Durga Puja, ban rituals and worship on Krishna Janmashthmi, and did not allow the Kanwar Yatra.”

On Thursday, an FIR was lodged at Kotwali Ramjanmabhoomi police station on a complaint by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. This came two days after a Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the allegations, submitted its preliminary findings to the Uttar Pradesh government.

Later that night, the eight men named in the FIR were arrested. The eight men are: Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastav. Most were involved in the donation counting work.

Story continues below this ad

Yogi Adityanath targets Arvind Kejriwal

Yogi Adityanath also took aim at former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in Ayodhya. “A gentleman [Arvind Kejriwal] from Delhi is visiting [Ayodhya] today. I would like to tell him that the people of Delhi gave him opportunities for many years, but he gave nothing to Delhi except corruption… If the same justice that the double-engine BJP government did with Ayodhya is done by the Aam Aadmi Party with Delhi, then Delhi too would shine just like Ayodhya Dham is shining…”

#WATCH | देवरिया, उत्तर प्रदेश | मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ ने कहा, “…दिल्ली से भी एक सज्जन वहां(अयोध्या) आए हैं आज। मैं उनसे भी कहना चाहूंगा कि दिल्ली की जनता ने उन्हें कई वर्षों तक अवसर दिया लेकिन उन्होंने दिल्ली को भ्रष्टाचार के अलावा कुछ नहीं दिया… अगर यही न्याय जो… pic.twitter.com/tVLBJcJq8c

— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) June 26, 2026

Kejriwal visited the Ram temple on Friday morning and then went to offer prayers at the Hanumangarhi temple.