Ram Mandir donation case sees first FIR filed against eight individuals

The Uttar Pradesh government has registered a first FIR against eight people over alleged theft and misappropriation of donations collected for the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. The FIR, filed on Thursday, cites offences under the Indian Penal Code such as theft, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the trust requested a probe, named Ramashankar Yadav (alias Tinnu Yadav), Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Kumar Yadav and others as accused. The SIT, which includes Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Police IG Kiran S and Finance Secretary Neel Ratan, is expanding its inquiry to the trust’s financial records, donation boxes and bank accounts. Despite intense political debate, the trust’s secretary‑general Champat Rai was not named in the FIR.

Police have begun questioning the suspects, but no arrests have been reported so far. The investigation follows allegations that a number of trust officials were involved in counting and possibly diverting donation money and valuable items stored at the Ram Mandir site.