Ram Temple Donation Case: Ayodhya Police Seek Custody of Avinash Shukla

Ayodhya Police have applied for a two-day custody remand of Avinash Shukla in the court of Additional District Judge (anti-corruption) Rajat Varma. The move follows fresh police raids at the residences of Shukla, Luvkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey.

An unnamed police officer reported, per Hindustan Times, that investigators recovered over Rs 79.85 lakh from eight arrested men. Shukla accounts for the highest single recovery of Rs 20.40 lakh. Police seized Rs 12 lakh from his room, while his brother returned Rs 8.4 lakh to the Trust last week.

Investigating Officer Ashutosh Tewari interrogated Shukla inside Ayodhya jail on Tuesday. During the session, Shukla named specific trust officials, a person familiar with the matter said.

Details Of Cash Recovered

The eight arrested men are Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav ‘Tinnu’, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra and Karunesh Pandey.

Familial ties link several suspects to temple administrators. Anukalp and Luvkush are relatives. Both are also related to Anil Mishra, a trust member who resigned last week along with Trust General Secretary Champat Rai. Ram Shankar Yadav serves as an aide to Rai and is related to Manish Yadav. Police also sought more details from Rai about the staff at the temple.

Police documented specific cash recoveries from the suspects. They seized Rs 18.07 lakh from Pandey, Rs 16.82 lakh from Anukalp and Rs 14.25 lakh from Lavkush. They also recovered Rs 7.32 lakh from Rama Shankar, Rs 2 lakh from Manish and Rs 1 lakh from Tinnu. Investigators found $900 to $1,000 in foreign currency linked to Shukla. Subhash Srivastava yielded no recovery.

All eight men remain in Ayodhya jail. The Faizabad bar association declined to represent them. Consequently, Shukla appeared without legal counsel during a video conference with the district judge. The judge informed the District Legal Services Authority and postponed the remand hearing to Thursday via video conferencing.

Bank Staff Under Scanner

Investigators are examining two State Bank of India Grade 3 employees. These staffers directly supervised the cash-counting operations at the temple. Both employees were present while cash was counted in front of them and deposited in the bank.

"Embezzlement of such a huge amount of donation-money could not have occurred without their knowledge," a senior police officer said.

The probe team will question personnel from Sainik Security Services, according to a senior police officer. The Varanasi-based firm supplied additional manpower to the bank. Six of the eight arrested suspects worked on the security company's payroll.

Authorities are scrutinising the financial background of all involved. Police forwarded the Aadhaar and PAN details of the arrested men and the bank staff to income tax, revenue and development authorities.

"Details of all eight accused in jail at present, the SBI staff deployed in Ram Mandir and all others associated in any way with the cash-counting job in Ram Mandir are being collected," the senior police officer added.

Origins Of The Probe

The controversy emerged on 7 June 2026. Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey said that individuals had siphoned off Rs 5 crore to Rs 7.5 crore from temple donations.

The state government formed a special investigation team on 13 June 2026 at the request of the temple trust. The panel included Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Lucknow Range Inspector-General Kiran S and Special Finance Secretary Neel Ratan. The team investigated between 15 and 20 June. They flagged prima facie irregularities in the cash handling process.

The SIT alleged that a portion of the offerings was siphoned off before being deposited into the temple’s designated bank account. Police arrested eight employees associated with the cash collection on 26 June 2026.

Authorities registered a first information report under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5). These charges involve criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy. The accused also face charges under Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.