Police have recovered jewellery, cash, and property documents from the home of Ramshankar Yadav, also known as Tinnu Yadav, one of the key accused in the alleged theft of donations at the Ram Mandir on Sunday.
The discoveries were made during searches conducted at the residences of all eight men arrested in the case. The operation comes just days after the group was sent to judicial custody for three days on Friday.
They will remain in jail until Monday, 29 June, when they are due to be produced in court again.
The eight accused include Tinnu Yadav, who is associated with the temple management, as well as Trust employees Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, and Avinash Shukla, along with retired bank employee Subhash Srivastava.
An FIR was registered on Thursday at Ayodhya Kotwali police station based on a complaint filed by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The case gained momentum soon after a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) flagged serious irregularities in the handling of temple donations in its preliminary report.
According to police, jewellery, cash, and property documents were seized from Tinnu Yadav’s house, while other items were recovered from the residences of the remaining accused.
Officers are now verifying all the recovered materials, with a full assessment expected to be completed by Sunday evening. Later tonight, investigators will decide whether to request further police custody of the accused during Monday’s court hearing.
Neighbours offered contrasting views on the accused. Tara Devi, who lives next door to Tinnu Yadav, called him a “brother” and a good man, insisting he is innocent and “being framed”.
In contrast, neighbours of Anukalp Mishra were more critical. Krishna Nand Tiwari said that anyone involved in stealing from the temple deserves the strictest punishment, describing it as a shameful betrayal of the faith of crores of devotees.
Another resident, Anurag, who had known Mishra for about a year, said he always seemed to be of good character but added that “one can never truly gauge anybody’s intentions.”Police say the full picture of the alleged theft will emerge through interrogation of the accused and analysis of CCTV footage.
If more people are found to be involved, action will be taken against them as well. The preliminary investigation has already highlighted the specific roles played by each of the accused, with Tinnu Yadav coming under particular scrutiny.
(with IANS inputs)
