An Ayodhya court on Friday remanded eight accused to judicial custody till June 29 in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations made by devotees at the Ram Mandir, following their arrest by Uttar Pradesh Police.
The accused were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court after their arrest in a case registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi Police Station on charges of alleged financial misappropriation of temple donations.
KC Verma, Prosecution Officer at the Ayodhya CJM Court, said all eight accused had been sent to judicial custody until Monday, when they would be produced before the court again.
According to Verma, investigators recovered a total of Rs 79,85,493 from the accused, except one individual, Subhash Srivastava, from whom no money was recovered.
"In total, Rs 79,85,493 was recovered from them, except for one accused, Subhash. Nothing was recovered from him, though he was involved in the conspiracy. Different amounts were recovered from the others," Verma told reporters.
Also read: Donations row:Ram Temple key officials Champat Rai, Mishra resign
He said the matter could not be placed before the special court constituted under the Prevention of Corruption Act because it was not functioning on Friday.
"The special court dealing with the Prevention of Corruption Act was not sitting today; it wasn't a working day. Since today was a holiday, the remand was granted until Monday. The individuals involved include public servants, people who draw salaries from the government, and there are also many SBI employees among them. There are about five or six from SBI," he said.
The eight arrested have been identified as Avinash Shukla, Ankalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Rama Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Rama Shankar alias Tinnu.
The FIR in the case was registered on June 25 following a complaint lodged by Krishanmohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
The complaint alleged theft, embezzlement and a planned misappropriation of funds donated by devotees at the Ram Temple. Police have launched an investigation into the alleged financial irregularities and are expected to continue the probe as the accused remain in judicial custody pending further proceedings.
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