Ram Mandir Donation Theft: Judicial Custody of 8 Accused Extended Till Jul 27

Ayodhya: A special anti-corruption court in Faizabad has extended the judicial custody of eight accused in the alleged Ram temple donation theft case by 14 days after the previous term ended Monday.The accused were produced before the court of Additional District Judge Pratibha Narayan through video conferencing, and sent to judicial custody till July 27.

The prosecution had on Friday sought police remand of two accused -- Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastav. The court will decide on the matter Tuesday (July 14).

According to the prosecution, statements made by the two during the probe have led to fresh leads, making their police custody necessary to verify facts and recover evidence linked to the alleged diversion of temple donations.

Tinnu Yadav, a former driver of Champat Rai, was reportedly in charge of the keys of donation boxes, while Srivastava, a former bank employee, was involved in overseeing the donation-counting process.

Police have already interrogated four accused -- Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey -- in separate police remands and claimed to have gathered key evidence related to the alleged donation theft.

The eight accused named in the SIT report, which formed the basis for their arrest, include Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.

All accused were produced before Special Judge, Anti-Corruption Court, Rajat Verma, on June 29 and were remanded in judicial custody for two weeks after police did not seek their custody, special prosecution officer Umesh Dubey had said.