Ayodhya Police recovered Rs 79.85 lakh from seven of the eight jailed suspects, with the highest recovery of Rs 20.40 lakh from Avinash Shukla.
Investigators are probing the assets of prime suspect Lavkush Mishra, including a land parcel worth Rs 23 lakh purchased in Sahadatganj.
The embezzlement controversy surfaced after Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan 'Pawan' Pandey alleged that temple donations worth Rs 5 crore to Rs 7.5 crore were siphoned.
Ayodhya Police conducted fresh raids at the residence of prime suspect Lavkush Mishra and recovered cash from Avinash Shukla. Investigators have recovered a total of ₹79.85 lakh from seven of the eight jailed suspects in the Ram Temple donation embezzlement case.
Police are now tracking the suspects' assets. The move follows the discovery of a Sahadatganj land parcel acquired by prime suspect Lavkush Mishra for ₹23 lakh, Hindustan Times reported.
The controversy surfaced on June 7 after Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan 'Pawan' Pandey said that individuals diverted temple offerings worth ₹5 crore to ₹7.5 crore.
Details of Cash Recoveries
The authorities provided a detailed breakdown of the seized funds from the arrested individuals. The specific cash recoveries include:
* ₹20.40 lakh from Avinash Shukla
* ₹18.07 lakh from Karunesh Pandey
* ₹16.82 lakh from Anukalp Mishra
* ₹14.25 lakh from Lavkush Mishra
* ₹7.32 lakh from Rama Shankar Mishra
* ₹2 lakh from Manish Yadav
* ₹1 lakh from Ram Shankar Yadav 'Tinnu'
No recovery was shown from the house of the eighth accused, Subhash Srivastava.
Shukla’s total recovery includes ₹12 lakh found in his room and ₹8.4 lakh returned to the temple trust by his brother. An anonymous officer also said that foreign currency of $900-$1,000 was also recovered from Shukla, the report said.
Trust Connections and Resignations
There were Kinship links several of the apprehended men to the temple management. Detainees Anukalp Mishra and Lavkush Mishra are relatives. The duo also shares family connections with Anil Mishra, a temple trust member who resigned last week.
Ram Shankar Yadav, an aide of trust general secretary Champat Rai, and Manish Yadav are related. Rai, who had been the face of the Ram temple trust, also resigned last week.
Six of the arrested suspects also worked for the same security firm. The Varanasi-based Sainik Security Services which registered in December 2017 with Rs 1 lakh capital, according to Ministry of Corporate Affairs data, was their employer.
The State Bank of India (SBI) Naya Ghat branch had hired the security firm for cash-counting duties, the HT report said.
