Ram Mandir donation theft : Ayodhya Police claim Maximum cash allegedly stolen during Kumbh Mela
A shocking revelation emerged on Wednesday in Ram Mandir donation theft case after the Ayodhya Police claimed that the maximum cash allegedly stolen during Kumbh Mela in early 2025, when donations at the temple witnessed a sharp rise.
As per the police probe, some of the accused had allegedly been involved in minor thefts even before the Kumbh. However, police claim the surge in offerings during the religious gathering provided an opportunity for a larger conspiracy to divert cash donations.
So far, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested eight accused in the case — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramshankar Yadav, also known as Tinnu Yadav. The SIT has been questioning to those who involved in the Ram Mandir donation theft
The SIT investigation says that the brothers-in-law Lavkush Mishra and Anukalp Mishra allegedly siphoned off the largest amount of money from the temple donations. However, the investigators claim the duo also purchased multiple properties using the alleged proceeds of the theft. Police said more than half a dozen properties linked to the two have so far been traced.
The SIT also started examining the accused financial transactions. However, the Ayodhya Police is taking assistance from the Income Tax Department to verify bank records and property details. Officials also plan to write to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate the alleged money trail.
Police are also examining the role of State Bank of India (SBI) employees as part of the investigation. The counting of donations collected in the temple’s four donation boxes is authorised by SBI, which had outsourced the cash-counting work to a private agency. According to police, a team of 14 people—11 associated with the bank and three from the temple trust—was responsible for counting the cash offerings.
Investigators are examining whether any lapses or collusion during this process facilitated the alleged diversion of funds.
Police said the highest cash recovery in the case was made from a property in Kaushalpuri linked to accused Avinash Shukla. Moreover, a yoga centre associated with his brother Abhishek Shukla, was raided on June 5. According to police, cash was allegedly concealed inside blankets stored in four boxes at the location. One of the boxes reportedly bore the inscription “Ram Rajya Kosh”. The yoga centre operator told police that Abhishek had claimed the raid was connected to his brother’s alleged involvement in the drug trade.
During searches, the police recovered cash from the house of Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, who had served as the driver of former Trust general secretary Champat Rai. Yadav allegedly possessed one key to the donation-counting room, while the second key remained with bank personnel. Investigators suspect the alleged diversion of cash was carried out through collusion during the counting process.
Police have collected bank details of movable and immovable assets belonging to all the accused. The Investigators claim a review of their bank accounts revealed transactions significantly higher than their known sources of income.