Court grants 39-hour police custody of two accused in Ram Mandir donation embezzlement case

A court on Friday granted 39 hours of police custody for Ram Shankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, and Manish Yadav, who are accused in the alleged embezzlement of donations meant for the Ram Mandir.

With the remand order in place, the two accused are expected to be taken out of jail on Saturday for questioning as investigators intensify their probe into the alleged misappropriation of temple funds.

Police are expected to use the custodial interrogation to question the duo about the alleged diversion of donations, establish the money trail and collect further evidence as part of the ongoing investigation.


Seeking a seven-day remand before the local court, the Ayodhya Police argued that custodial interrogation was essential to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the alleged theft of donations from the Ram Temple. According to the police, questioning the accused in custody is crucial to identify other possible links in the case, trace the flow of money and recover additional evidence.

Probe widens as SIT nears final report

The latest remand comes days after two other accused in the case — Subhash Chandra Srivastava, a retired bank employee who supervised cash-counting operations at the temple, and Ramashankar Mishra — were granted a 14-hour police remand and taken from the Ayodhya District Jail for custodial interrogation.

Investigators have already questioned four other accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey — during earlier police custody remand.

On Monday, an Ayodhya court extended the judicial custody of all eight accused by another 14 days. They appeared before the court through video conferencing and are scheduled to appear again on July 27.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged embezzlement is expected to submit its final report to the Uttar Pradesh government within the next 24 to 48 hours.

ANI sources have said the investigation is unlikely to receive any further extension after the state government granted the SIT an additional 15 days on July 1 to expand the scope of its inquiry.

According to the SIT's preliminary findings, investigators identified around 70 suspicious incidents captured on CCTV footage between April 27 and June 5, 2026, in which members of the cash-counting staff were allegedly seen concealing bundles of cash.

The preliminary report also highlighted several security and procedural lapses, including the absence of frisking at entry and exit points, inadequate checks on personal belongings and the practice of counting cash from multiple donation boxes together, which allegedly created opportunities for the theft.

The report noted that nearly Rs 78.94 lakh had already been recovered from some employees before the investigation began. An additional Rs 2.25 lakh was allegedly recovered from a bathroom attached to the temple's cash-counting room on June 4, 2026.

The SIT, however, said it found no prima facie evidence to support claims circulated on social media regarding missing silver bricks or the disappearance of other valuable offerings from the temple.