Ram temple donation theft case: SIT identifies 105 CCTV-captured instances, chargesheet by Sept 25

NEW DELHI: As many as 105 instances of alleged donation theft at the Ayodhya Ram Temple were captured on CCTV, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) informed the Supreme Court on Monday. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, citing the SIT's status report, presented details of the investigation before the court.

The investigation is substantially complete and the chargesheet will be filed by September 25, the Solicitor General told the court. The deadline is significant as the statutory 90-day period from the first arrest is due to expire on that date. The chargesheet is expected to be filed before the competent court dealing with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Supreme Court perused the SIT's status report, which detailed the CCTV footage and other material examined to identify the accused. Details of the arrests and evidence gathered in connection with the alleged thefts were also placed before the court. Witness statements, physical evidence and CCTV footage were among the material presented.
The report said receipts for valuable articles received as donations are generated through software, while the articles are subsequently kept in State Bank of India (SBI) lockers.

The petitioners sought a copy of the SIT report, but the Supreme Court declined the request. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said it did not want to take the matter out of the Sessions Court's hands and indicated that it could issue further directions if additional investigation was found necessary.

The case has so far resulted in the arrest of eight people — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu. They have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Six of the accused were associated with the temple's donation-counting process, according to reports.