Eight accused in Ayodhya Ram temple donation theft case sent to 14-day judicial custody

All eight accused persons, who had been arrested in connection with the alleged theft of donations at Ayodhya's Ram temple, were remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a local court on Monday, officials said.

The accused were produced before special judge Rajat Verma of the anti-corruption court through video conferencing after their earlier judicial custody expired, special prosecution officer Umesh Dubey said. Police did not apply for the custody of the accused, he added.

The eight had earlier been remanded to three days of judicial custody till Monday by a special remand magistrate.


Meanwhile, the Faizabad Bar Association, Ayodhya, resolved that none of its members would represent the eight accused arrested in the alleged embezzlement of Ram temple donations, warning that any lawyer violating the decision would face a ₹5 lakh penalty.

The decision was taken at the body's general body meeting after lawyers on Sunday indicated they were unlikely to defend the accused, saying their sentiments had been hurt by the alleged theft of temple offerings.

Faizabad Bar Association president Kalika Prasad Mishra told media persons after the meeting that it was unanimously decided that no advocate belonging to the body would appear on behalf of the accused.

The Bar said it would seek registration of a first information report against Champat Rai, Gopal Rao and Anil Mishra under BNSS Section 156(3), which empowers a magistrate to order the police to investigate a cognizable offence if the police has not acted on a complaint.

"We will first approach the police for registration of the case, and if no action is taken, we will seek legal remedy through the courts," Kalika Prasad Mishra said.

The accused - Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav - were associated with counting cash at the temple.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal urged the people to defeat the BJP government, alleging that it had looted the country and did not even spare Lord Ram. In a post on X, Sibal said: "Defeat this government, Ram ko loota, desh ko loota, achhe din ka nara jhootha." He further said, in rhyming verse in Romanised Hindi, "Aise shasan ko tordein ge; Mil ke desh ko jordein ge; Na dilon ka ho ga batwara; sab ka desh hai desh hamara."

- With inputs from agencies