Ram Temple Cash Theft: SIT Probe Flags Major Security Failures in Ayodhya

Lax supervision and systemic security breaches allowed staff to steal cash repeatedly from the Ram Temple donation counting room, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) stated in its initial findings. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust reviewed the preliminary SIT report during a meeting on Monday.

The panel urged filing criminal charges against six arrested cash counters. It also demanded a probe into supervisors and security enforcers. Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant leads the three-member team, New Indian Express reported. Lucknow Range Inspector-General Kiran S and Ayodhya Circle Officer Ashutosh Tiwari are managing the field investigation.

Cameras caught staff stuffing money away. Between April 27 and June 5, 2026, surveillance footage showed about 70 instances of counters hiding currency bundles and loose cash in their pockets, shoes and clothing, the report stated. The panel stated that this systematic pattern pointed to ongoing, routine thefts instead of one-off occurrences. Before the panel was formed, the trust retrieved about Rs 2.79 crore, foreign cash and jewellery from counting staff. Officials also found Rs 2.25 lakh inside a washroom next to the counting area on June 4.

Accused and Financial Discrepancies

Six individuals face charges. The panel established the prima facie involvement of Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey and Ramashankar Mishra using video recordings, recovery logs and bank data. While cameras caught Shukla and Yadav repeatedly pocketing cash, the other four allegedly helped them execute the thefts. All six remain in custody.

The suspects earned a monthly salary of roughly Rs 20,000, which dropped to Rs 15,000 after deductions. Yet, investigators detected massive cash deposits, fixed deposits and other banking transactions. This mismatch suggested they routed the stolen funds through their own accounts and those of their families. The full scale of the theft remains unknown. Because of limited storage capacity, the system automatically overwrote all CCTV footage recorded before April 27. However, bank records and confessions from the accused indicate the thefts started much earlier, the report stated.

Systemic Failures and Protocols

Security guidelines were ignored. The trust and the State Bank of India had established a joint Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to manage temple offerings, but the report highlighted systemic failures in its execution. Staff skipped mandatory physical searches at entry and exit points, carried personal items into the counting area, and wore clothes with pockets. Furthermore, biometric logs failed, offerings from various collection boxes were commingled before being tallied, denomination logs were skipped, and surveillance cameras did not serve as a deterrent. These combined vulnerabilities allowed the continuous siphoning of cash, the SIT stated.

The panel questioned why a February 2025 SOP revision weakened physical search rules by substituting mandatory frisking with "regular/random" checks. It stated that even these weaker guidelines were ignored. Furthermore, internal audits from 2022-23 to 2025-26 had flagged poor records, weak camera coverage and the need for 180-day video storage. The trust ignored these warnings.

Supervisory Negligence and Steps

Senior trust officials also face scrutiny. Anil Mishra, who helped draft the security guidelines with the bank, failed to enforce the rules despite knowing that staff skipped physical searches, the report stated. The panel held him responsible for these supervisory lapses. Mishra has since resigned.

Counting room in-charge Subhash Srivastava showed gross negligence by failing to monitor staff, enforce physical searches or implement mandatory security protocols, the report stated. It also flagged Ramshankar Yadav, alias Tinnu, for holding donation box keys without official authorization. Yadav had also pushed for the hiring of his relative, Manish Kumar Yadav, who was later implicated in the thefts.

Rumours on social media about missing silver bricks and other precious donations proved false. Investigators verified the physical inventory against official logs and confirmed all valuable offerings were fully documented and processed. Trust officials on Monday reiterated that every donated item remains accounted for, offering to present the physical assets to the respective donors. Meanwhile, the state government extended the panel's deadline to submit its final report until July 15, 2026.