An Indian police investigation into the theft of donations from the Ram temple in Ayodhya has uncovered new details, with the Special Investigation Team saying the embezzlement began during the 2025 Kumbh Mela, NDTV reported.
Police said some of the eight accused were involved in petty theft before the Kumbh Mela, but the volume of devotee donations surged during the religious gathering, giving them the opportunity to embezzle on a larger scale.
The eight arrested are Abinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav. All eight were interrogated for several hours on Tuesday (June 30), police said.
The investigation found that brothers-in-law Lav Kush Mishra and Anukalp Mishra embezzled the largest share and purchased multiple properties with the stolen funds. Police have traced more than half a dozen properties linked to the pair.
The income tax department is assisting with an examination of the accused’s financial transactions and the source of their assets. The role of several State Bank of India employees has also come under suspicion, and Ayodhya police plan to request the Enforcement Directorate to investigate potential money laundering.
SBI was the authorized agency for counting donations from the temple’s four donation boxes. The bank subcontracted the work to a private firm. A 14-member team — 11 bank employees and three temple trust representatives — handled the counting.
Police said the largest amount of cash was recovered from a hideout of accused Abinash Shukla in the Kaushalipuri area. NDTV reported that the location is a yoga center connected to Abinash’s brother Abhishek Shukla. The center’s operator, Seema Tiwari, said police raided the premises on June 5 and recovered a large amount of cash.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report