The Supreme Court revealed on Monday that CCTV footage from the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya showed one hundred and five instances of theft involving donations. This alarming revelation has raised concerns about security at the temple, which is a significant religious site in India.
Ram Mandir Donation Theft Case: The SIT status report outlined how CCTV footage and other materials were analysed to identify the accused
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, quoting the report of the Special Investigation Team probing the donation theft, gave the top court details of the investigation. The court directed the magistrate to take action on the charge sheet in accordance with the law. The Supreme Court reviewed the SIT’s status report while hearing the case related to the alleged donation theft. During the proceedings, the court was informed about the number of arrests made so far and the evidence gathered regarding the theft of donations; the available evidence was also presented to the court. The status report outlined how CCTV footage and other materials were analysed to identify the accused. The Supreme Court has taken all the given information on record. During the hearing, the petitioners requested a copy of the SIT report, but the Supreme Court declined the request. The bench led by the Chief Justice stated that it did not wish to take the matter out of the Sessions Judge’s hands, adding that it would pass an order if it deemed further investigation necessary. The FIR named eight people – Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu – and other unidentified individuals as accused.
The Solicitor General also informed the court that the SIT investigation is nearing completion and the charge sheet will be filed by September 25. The three-member SIT, headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, was constituted by the state government on June 13 at the request of the Trust, before the Supreme Court intervened in the matter. All of them have been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
