A major scandal has rocked the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya after covertly installed cameras allegedly caught staff members pocketing cash and jewellery from donation boxes at the Ram Mandir. The revelations have triggered a criminal investigation, eight arrests, and the resignation of one of the temple trust's most senior figures.
Numbers That Didn't Add Up
The alleged theft first came to light in late May, when trust officials noticed a persistent gap between the cash collected from donation boxes and the amounts eventually deposited in the bank. Each box was typically bringing in between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 8 lakh, but bundles of Rs 500 notes in particular kept falling short during counting, raising immediate suspicion of pilferage inside the counting room itself.
Hidden Cameras Catch the Culprits
To get to the bottom of the discrepancies, trust officials quietly installed hidden cameras inside the note-counting room, separate from the temple's existing surveillance system. The footage reportedly exposed a coordinated operation among staff members siphoning off cash and jewellery meant for the temple, right under the nose of standard security systems.
Eight Arrested, Lakhs Recovered
On June 25, an FIR was registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station against eight named individuals and unidentified others, on charges including embezzlement, fraud, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust. All eight have since been arrested. Police recoveries from the accused's homes and bank accounts have been substantial, including roughly Rs 10 lakh recovered from one suspect's residence and around Rs 20 lakh from another's, with a Special Investigation Team continuing to build the case using the camera evidence.
A Senior Resignation Follows
The fallout reached the top of the trust when Champat Rai, the well-known former VHP leader serving as the trust's general secretary, resigned on moral grounds after being linked to the case through an associate. Trustee Anil Mishra also stepped down, and administrator Gopal Nagarakatte was removed from the trust's list of special invitees, following a meeting at the Ram Mandir complex that ran more than three hours.
Rai Breaks His Silence
Rai has since spoken out publicly for the first time, saying in a handwritten note that he had deliberately stayed quiet while the SIT completed its preliminary inquiry, at the trust's request. He appealed to the public not to jump to conclusions and asked people to wait for the investigation to run its course, insisting the full truth would eventually come out. Investigators say no direct involvement by senior trust functionaries has been established in the camera footage so far, though the probe remains ongoing.