Ayodhya: Avinash Shukla alias Shani was allegedly caught on CCTV stealing donation money from the Ram temple counting room 85 times, according to the chargesheet filed by Ayodhya police in the case.
The chargesheet gives a detailed account of the alleged role of each accused, based on CCTV footage, mobile phone data, call detail records and other evidence. It says Shukla was also seen helping other accused steal donation money on four occasions.
The alleged pattern becomes more extensive in the case of other accused. Karunesh Pandey was allegedly seen stealing on two occasions and helping co-accused 68 times. Manish Kumar Yadav was allegedly seen keeping donation money with himself on 16 occasions and assisting others 19 times.
Ramashankar Mishra was allegedly seen removing and keeping donation money with himself once, while Lavkush Mishra was allegedly caught stealing once and helping other accused 52 times. Anukalp Mishra was allegedly seen assisting co-accused in removing donation money on 56 occasions.
The police have relied heavily on CCTV footage from July 25 to 30, 2026. The chargesheet says that during counting of the donation money in the presence of Subhash Srivastava, Shukla was seen removing cash and keeping it with himself.
The investigation also traced the alleged coordination between the accused through their phones. Analysis of call detail records showed frequent contact between them during the period under investigation, the chargesheet says.
Police have also cited text messages recovered from Anukalp Mishra's mobile phone involving Shukla and Lavkush Mishra. According to the chargesheet, the messages referred to bundles of cash and conversations about keeping, concealing, exchanging and moving the money.
Based on the CCTV footage, digital evidence, oral statements and circumstantial evidence, police have alleged that the accused acted in coordination and were part of a planned criminal conspiracy to remove donation money from the counting room.
The police also examined the financial trail. Around 700 bank accounts belonging to trustees, accused, suspects, counting staff and employees associated with the trust were scrutinised. Transactions in the trust's accounts were also examined to trace the movement of money.
The chargesheet specifically records that investigators did not find any personal bank account in the name of Champat Rai. Transactions involving the accounts of Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao were also examined alongside those of the accused and other suspects.
The filing, however, has triggered a fresh dispute over the investigation.
The advocates' association questioned the probe before the court on Wednesday, arguing that the police had ignored important evidence and failed to examine the role of some people named in complaints.
The association said affidavits submitted by 10 advocates as evidence were not acted upon by the investigating officer. It also questioned why Champat Rai, Dr Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao were made witnesses instead of accused, and why trust member Krishna Mohan was not made an accused.
The association claimed that evidence against them had been submitted through applications but was not considered during the investigation. It demanded that chargesheets be filed against them as well.
It also questioned the handling of money recovered before the constitution of the Special Investigation Team and raised objections regarding the timing of the recovery and the site map included in the chargesheet.
The allegations in the chargesheet are yet to be tested in court. The final determination of the guilt or otherwise of the accused will depend on the evidence examined during the trial.
