Ayodhya: Ayodhya Police on Saturday took custody of Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and his nephew Manish Yadav for 39 hours, the final two suspects yet to face custodial interrogation in the alleged Ram Temple donation theft case.
A special court granted the remand on Friday. The pair were produced from Ayodhya district jail on Saturday morning and will undergo questioning that officials say is expected to complete the investigation and pave the way for filing the chargesheet.
Investigators regard Tinnu Yadav as a principal accused and a close associate of the temple trust’s former general secretary, Champat Rai. Police say Tinnu oversaw the temple’s donation boxes while Manish participated in the cash-counting process. Searches last month recovered Rs 1 lakh from Tinnu’s residence and Rs 2 lakh from Manish’s home.
Police had sought seven days’ custody, arguing that detailed questioning of the uncle-nephew duo is necessary to reconstruct the alleged conspiracy and corroborate evidence from earlier interrogations. Officials said the two will be confronted with statements of six co-accused already questioned in custody and probed on financial records, electronic evidence and documents recovered during the probe.
Investigators said the interrogation will focus on alleged diversion of devotees’ donations, roles during cash counting, the movement of the suspected funds and suspected investments in movable and immovable assets. So far, eight people — mostly linked to outsourced cash-counting agencies — have been arrested in the case.
Earlier custodial rounds between July 3 and July 15 reportedly yielded recovered cash, gold ornaments, two SUVs allegedly bought with misappropriated funds, and documents related to investments and assets. Several bank accounts of the accused and their relatives have been frozen as part of the financial probe.
The criminal investigation is running alongside an administrative inquiry by the Uttar Pradesh government’s SIT, which has probed alleged supervisory lapses and security gaps in the temple’s donation management. The SIT is expected to submit its final report to the state government after updating the Supreme Court on probe progress.
(Inputs from IANS)