Ram Temple ‘theft’ row: Police check if 20 people linked to 8 arrested had purchased land

3 min readLucknowUpdated: Jul 13, 2026 06:00 AM IST

The Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh attracts around 2 million people every month. (File Photo)

Ayodhya Police, which is investigating the alleged theft and embezzlement of cash and valuables donated at Ram Temple, have asked the district revenue department to find out details of land purchases, if any, by 20 relatives and associates of the eight arrested men.

Sources in the police said 20 people were identified as close associates and relatives of the eight accused who were “entrusted with assets or financial dealings on their behalf”.

The eight arrested men are Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, Ramshankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav and Karunesh Pandey. Except for Ram Shankar alias Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastava, the other six accused were allegedly directly involved in counting donations made to the temple.

Earlier this month, The Indian Express had reported that police have sought revenue records to determine the money trail and questioned local property dealers to establish whether the arrested accused were involved in any recent real estate transactions.

“We are trying to establish where the accused invested the stolen money… So far, we have recovered cash, jewellery and vehicles that appear to have been purchased using the stolen money. We are examining whether the accused also used the money to buy any immovable property,” a police officer involved in the probe told The Indian Express.

“We are awaiting the revenue department’s report,” the officer added.

Sources said property documents seized during searches at the homes of the accused did not, by themselves, establish that the properties had been purchased using the “stolen” money.

Story continues below this ad

Meanwhile, police have sought a local court’s permission for seven days’ custody of Srivastava and Yadav.

While the CCTV footage from the counting room captured the six arrested counting staff allegedly concealing cash during the counting process, police are trying to gather more evidence to establish the roles of Yadav and Srivastava.

Subhash Srivastava served as the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust-appointed supervisor of the donation counting room. Tinnu Yadav, on the other hand, was a driver of former Trust general secretary Champat Rai, who resigned following the donation “theft” revelations.