Ex-trustees Champat Rai, Anil Mishra named witnesses in Ram Temple donation ‘theft’ chargesheet

Trustee Anil Mishra (left) and general secretary Champat Rai (right) are under pressure amid the controversy. (Express photo)

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, has listed 133 witnesses — including former office-bearers of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai and Anil Mishra — in its chargesheet against the eight accused.

Rai served as the Trust’s general secretary and Anil Mishra as a member. They resigned after the allegations of the donation theft surfaced.

Other witnesses named by the SIT include Krishna Mohan, a Trust member who filed the original complaint; Gopal M Nagarkatte, also known as Gopal Rao, who was frequently invited as a special invitee to Trust meetings; along with several local residents and police personnel.

The chargesheet, running to approximately 74,000 pages, was filed before a local court in Ayodhya on Wednesday.

It is learnt that the SIT, in its chargesheet, stated that allegations of donation theft first came to light when a video and a written message were sent to Champat Rai while he was travelling by train from Delhi to Ayodhya on June 4. He was informed about the cash found in the bathroom of the counting room. The video showed bundles of currency notes lying inside a bathroom. Later, after reaching Ayodhya, Rai was shown several videos, learnt to be mentioned in the chargesheet, in which the counting staff could allegedly be seen removing donation money while it was being counted.

The eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramshankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastav — face charges of criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. All are in judicial custody. The documents accompanying the chargesheet include supporting materials, annexures, exhibits, and other evidence.

During the probe, police recovered Rs 79.8 lakh from seven of the eight arrested men, sources said. No cash or valuables were recovered from Subhash Srivastav.

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The chargesheet details the specific occasions on which each accused was caught removing the donation money, as well as instances of assisting others in doing so, sources said.