The alleged donation irregularities at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya have now moved beyond a case of suspected cash theft and entered the larger question of institutional accountability. Fresh documents reportedly show that six of the eight arrested accused were on the payroll of Sainik Security Services, a Varanasi-based agency hired through SBI’s Naya Ghat branch for cash-counting duties linked to temple offerings.
With nearly ₹79.85 lakh reportedly recovered and the SIT now examining lapses in staffing, CCTV preservation, frisking and cash-handling protocols, the case has raised serious questions over how donations made by millions of devotees were collected, counted and safeguarded.
The Varanasi Connection
Six of the eight men arrested in the case were employees of Sainik Security Services, a Varanasi-based agency that supplied manpower for counting cash and valuables donated at the temple. The State Bank of India's (SBI) Naya Ghat branch in Ayodhya had hired the firm one of three SBI branches where the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust holds accounts.
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According to Sainik Security Services director Gaurav Singh, the agency's only client in this arrangement was the bank, not the temple trust itself.
He said the local SBI branch departed from the usual centralised hiring process and instead asked the agency to formally induct 19 individuals who had already been deployed at the site, so they could continue working under the agency's cover.
Sainik Security Services was incorporated in its current form in December 2017, with a registered address in Varanasi and a paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh, according to Ministry of Corporate Affairs records. The firm says it operates across 15 states and counts several government bodies among its clients.
Who the Accused Are
Documents submitted by Ayodhya police to the court of Rajat Varma, additional district judge (anti-corruption), show that six of the eight accused were drawing salaries from the Varanasi-based agency. Of the remaining two, one Ram Shankar Yadav was paid directly by the temple trust, while the other, Subhash Srivastava, a former bank employee, did not draw wages at all.
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The eight men arrested are: Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav (alias Tinnu), Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra, and Karunesh Pandey.
Notably, Anukalp Mishra and Lavkush Mishra are related to each other and to Anil Mishra, a trust member who resigned last week along with trust general secretary Champat Rai. Ram Shankar Yadav an aide of Champat Rai and Manish Yadav are also related. Police said Yadav had employed his relative Manish Yadav in the temple's cash-counting unit, in violation of protocol.
Searches have led to the recovery of about Rs 79.85 lakh in cash from seven of the eight accused, along with some foreign currency.
How the Case Unfolded
The controversy first surfaced on June 7, when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan "Pawan" Pandey alleged that donations worth Rs 5 crore to Rs 7.5 crore had been siphoned off from temple offerings. At the temple trust's request, the Uttar Pradesh government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 13, comprising Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Lucknow Range inspector-general Kiran S, and special secretary (finance) Neel Ratan.
The SIT's preliminary inquiry, conducted between June 15 and 20, found prima facie irregularities in how cash and valuables donated by devotees were being handled. Investigators pointed to blatant violations of standard operating procedure, including failure to deploy a security guard during counting, skipping frisking of staff entering and leaving the counting room, and not preserving CCTV footage of the counting process for the mandated 180 days.
The SIT's report, submitted on June 23, described the speed and scale of the lapses as striking reportedly taking just six days to uncover what officials called mismanagement, embezzlement and neglect in the temple's handling of donations. Shortly before the SIT was formally constituted, Rs 2.5 lakh in cash was recovered from a washroom near the donation-counting room.
An FIR was registered on June 25 under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act, covering criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy. The eight accused were arrested on June 26 and have since been sent to judicial custody.
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Where Things Stand
SBI has said it is cooperating with the SIT and has been providing banking services to the temple trust since the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in January 2024. A senior SBI official in Lucknow noted, speaking anonymously, that hiring for such services is normally handled at the corporate or central level — raising questions over why the local branch bypassed that process in this case.
The Ram Temple has seen a massive surge in devotee footfall and offerings since its consecration in January 2024, particularly around the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. Investigators are continuing to examine the roles of everyone involved in the donation collection and cash-counting chain. The allegations remain under investigation, and no court has yet determined the guilt or innocence of the accused.
