UP government hands over SIT final report on donation ‘theft’ to Ram Temple Trust

According to government sources, the report was studied and discussed thoroughly by top officials and necessary steps were being taken on the findings.

The report was handed over to the Trust’s interim general secretary Krishna Mohan, and it would be placed before a meeting of the Trust scheduled to be held in the first week of the next month.

While the preliminary report mainly contained details about the key lapses leading to the theft of cash and valuables by employees engaged in the counting of donations, the rest of the report is on recommendations about stepping up security and the measures required to be taken for the management of donation boxes and the appointment of staff for counting among other things, they added.

The report calls for enhancing police deployment to keep a watch on all the activities in the inner circle of the temple premises.

Another SIT headed by IGP Kiran S was also constituted by the state government to supervise the investigation into the FIR filed in the matter. This SIT has Ayodhya range DIG Somen Barma, Ayodhya SSP Gaurav Grover and Barabanki ASP Ritesh Singh as its members.

The main SIT headed by Pant had submitted its preliminary report to the government on June 23.

The FIR in the matter was registered under different sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station on the complaint of a Trust member on June 25, in which eight persons by name and other unidentified persons were made accused.

Those booked by name are Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.

The accused were interrogated in police custody and Rs 79 lakh in cash and other assets, including vehicles, were seized. The eight are currently in jail.k