Yogi defends Ram Temple trust amid SIT probe into donation theft case

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday defended the Ram temple trust saying the SIT probing the alleged donation theft found evidence against only eight out of nearly 150 people engaged in counting offerings, even as police took three accused into custody for further interrogation.

A preliminary report of the three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) identified Avinash Shukla as the prime accused in the case, linking him to a suspected 40-day racket involving nearly 70 instances of pilferage



from the donation-counting system, sources said on Wednesday.

According to the police, the accused used forged receipts to collect money from devotees.

The police on Wednesday took three accused — Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey — into custody for questioning after a local court granted a remand.

During their interrogation, the police recovered an old forged receipt book resembling the temple trust’s earlier donation receipts, sources said.