Accused used forged receipts to collect donations at Ram temple: Police

Ayodhya (UP), Jul 8 (PTI) The accused in the Ram temple donation theft used forged receipts to collect money from devotees, police said as the investigation progressed on Wednesday. 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, police recovered an old forged receipt book resembling the Trust's earlier donation receipts, sources said. According to sources, the three accused told investigators that they and another accused Tinnu Yadav had used the fake receipts initially to collect money from devotees who wished to make donations to the temple. The receipts closely resembled the original ones and carried the logo of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, making it difficult for the donors to detect. They allegedly discontinued the receipt book after the Trust shifted to an online receipt system. A week ago, police had seized a donation box -- labelled "Ramrajya Kosh" and bearing an active QR code for making payments -- from a yoga centre in Ayodhya, where the prime accused Avinash Shukla had allegedly been staying for the last 10 years. As part of the investigation, police took the three accused to the Jaura area along the 14-kosi parikrama route, where investigators suspect stolen currency notes were counted and distributed. Police also conducted searches in Ayodhya's Milkipur area, including at premises linked to Anukalp Mishra's relatives, a jewellery trader and a building material dealer in Inayatnagar. Investigators are examining whether payments for properties or goods allegedly purchased by the accused were made in cash or through digital transactions, sources said. Separately, the SIT has begun scrutinising bills and vouchers related to major expenditures of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Eight people have been arrested in the alleged donation theft case. The SIT's preliminary findings have identified nearly 70 suspected instances of theft over a period of 40 days. The SIT is examining the role of the accused as well as the alleged procedural and security lapses in the temple's donation-counting system. PTI COR CDN RUK RUK