Ayodhya: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the UP government to probe the theft of offerings at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya submitted its final report on Monday night. According to sources, the report does not name the Trust's former General Secretary Champat Rai or member Dr. Anil Mishra. The other eight accused are already in jail. The UP Home Department has handed over this report to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the President of the Ram Temple Trust. It will be presented at the Trust's meeting scheduled for September 2. It was the Trust itself that had requested the UP government for an SIT probe into the theft.
The UP government had constituted a three-member SIT on June 13, led by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant. IG (Range) Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar were its members. The SIT submitted a preliminary report on June 23.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court directed that the SIT probe be led by an IPS officer and include a finance expert. A new SIT was constituted on July 2, comprising Lucknow Range IG Kiran S, Ayodhya DIG Soman Verma, and Ayodhya SSP Gaurav Grover. This SIT is continuing the investigation into the theft.
The theft case first came to light on June 7. The UP government's SIT had submitted a preliminary report to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad on June 23. An FIR was registered on June 25 based on a complaint by Trust member Krishna Mohan. The FIR named eight individuals, including Ramshankar Yadav (alias Tinu). However, senior office-bearers like Champat Rai and Dr. Anil Mishra were not named.
Within hours of the FIR being registered, the police arrested the eight accused, including Tinu. Currently, all of them are lodged in Faizabad Jail. They are accused of stealing currency notes and jewelry while the offerings were being counted. Following the SIT's preliminary report, General Secretary Champat Rai and Trustee Dr. Anil Mishra resigned, citing moral responsibility. The Trust accepted both resignations and removed Gopal Nagarkatte from the list of special invitees.