look news india
The case of cash offerings going missing from the donation boxes of Prabhu Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya has shocked the entire country. As the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is progressing, shocking facts are coming to light in this high-profile case which has exposed the security and management system. However, no official data of the total amount stolen has been released yet by the Trust or the Police, but solid sources related to the investigation claim that the missing amount could be in crores of rupees. The SIT is now trying to find out how such a big game continued for so long in the safest religious place of the country.
The game had started even before Pran Pratistha, lakhs of rupees were laundered every day.
According to the inputs received by the investigating agencies, this process of embezzling cash from the donation boxes had started even before the grand consecration of Ram Lalla on January 22, 2024. But after Pran Pratistha, when there was a record increase in the number of devotees coming from India and abroad and the offerings increased manifold, the scale of this misappropriation also became bigger. Initial investigation has revealed that earlier cash of Rs 2 to 4 lakh was being transferred every day, but later as the hold on the system became stronger, this amount was increased manifold every day.
Anukalp Mishra and his family network at the center of investigation
In the investigation of SIT, the name of Anukalp Mishra, resident of Milkipur, is emerging as the mastermind of this entire racket. It is being told that on the recommendation of an influential trustee, Anukalp got entry in the work related to the temple, after which he was given the main responsibility of counting the donations.
It is alleged that Anukalp gradually got his relatives and close ones entry inside the temple and created a big network. About 8 months ago, he also employed his brother-in-law Luvkush Mishra for cash counting. Anukalp had taken over the system of the entire counting room by luring or influencing many other employees working in his shift.
Toilet of Passenger Facilitation Center (PFC) and secret hideout of ‘Kaushalpuri’
The most shocking revelation in the investigation is how this black money was taken out by avoiding the prying eyes of CCTV cameras and security agencies. The accused employees first took the cash withdrawn from the donation boxes and hid it in the bathroom of the Passenger Facilitation Center (PFC). After this, whenever the security cover was a little lax or there was an opportunity, they used to take this amount out of the temple premises, avoiding checking. After coming out of the premises, this entire amount was taken to a secret location in Kaushalpuri, Ayodhya, where after every shift the amount was distributed among all the stakeholders.
Who made the backdoor appointments and who was responsible for monitoring?
SIT is now busy digging the roots of this entire racket to find out who appointed these suspicious people for such a sensitive work of the temple. Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, associated with the temple system, has confessed during interrogation that the appointment of Anukalp Mishra and his close ones was done on the written or oral recommendation of Dr. Anil Kumar Mishra, trustee of Ram Mandir Trust.
Not only this, Anil Kumar also had the direct responsibility of imposing counting duties and monitoring them. However, there is no official confirmation of these serious allegations yet and the SIT is doing physical verification of all the links.
Many big names including retired bank employees are under investigation
The SIT has made the basement of the Passenger Facilitation Center (PFC) an investigation base for the last 3 days, where many suspected employees and responsible officers have been made to sit face to face and interrogated. The biggest question being raised is that when the counting room employees came out, why were they not thoroughly searched (physical frisking)?
Now the heat of this matter has also reached Subhash Srivastava, a retired bank employee, whose responsibility was to count the donations and deposit them in a safe bank. Apart from this, Ramshankar Yadav, Manish Yadav and Rajesh Pathak are also on the strict radar of SIT.
Trust worth crores violated, teams scanning records and CCTV
Such financial irregularities at a center of global faith like the Ram temple have hurt and worried Ram devotees across the world. At present, several SIT teams are matching the counting records of the temple, CCTV footage of the last several months, bank deposit slips and statements of the arrested employees. Forensic and audit experts believe that the country will be able to know the exact figure of the actual loss only after a complete forensic audit is conducted.
