In a latest development in the alleged theft of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, investigators have reportedly obtained first photograph showing two of the accused – Avinash Shukla and Anukalp Mishra – inside the cash counting facility at the temple.
According to IANS, this could be a significant piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation, since it places them inside the room where offerings made by devotees were counted and processed.
Avinash and Anukalp are among the eight people arrested in connection with the matter. Among others include Tinnu Yadav, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, and Subhash Srivastava.
The accused allegedly exploited weaknesses in the surveillance system, IANS quoted police sources as saying.
Investigating officials have claimed that CCTV control room at the temple was not being properly monitored during the initial period. This allowed the accused to remove cash without immediate detection.
In the CCTV footage, officials are believed to have seen few of the accused taking money from the counting area.
As per insiders, the suspects initially made all possible attempts to avoid the cameras, but later acted openly as they realised that nobody was actively monitoring the surveillance feeds.
The investigation also remains focused over the recruitment process of staff assigned to handle temple donations.
Reports have indicated that then Ram Mandir Trust General Secretary Champat Rai allegedly delegated complete authority over the recruitment of cash-counting personnel to trustee Anil Mishra – an accused in the case.
To expand operations after the increased flow of devotees, the Trust recruited 10 new employees in March last year. All the applicants were interviewed by Anil Mishra after being referred to him by Champat Rai.