Ram temple donation row: Court grants police custody of 3 accused
A court in Ayodhya on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) approved a one day police custody for three individuals Karunesh Pandey, Lavkush Mishra, and Anukalp Mishra
A court in Ayodhya on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) approved a one day police custody for three individuals Karunesh Pandey, Lavkush Mishra, and Anukalp Mishra who are presently in judicial custody in the Ram Temple donation embezzlement case. The decision comes after police requested a longer custody of seven days to delve deeper into the investigation surrounding the missing donated funds.
The Investigating Officer (IO) of the case demanded for custodial interrogation, through the government lawyer describing it crucial for advancing the inquiry. They added the request is supported by findings from a preliminary police interrogation of detainees, which prompted officials to seek further questioning of the trio to uncover more information in the case. Eight people were named as the accused in a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the temple.
The accused — Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Subhash Chandra Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, and Karunesh Pandey — have been booked on charges including theft, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy under multiple sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). As per the FIR, these accused were responsible for counting the cash and valuables donated by devotees at the temple.
The arrested accused included former close aides of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai. The FIR was registered on June 25, 2026, after a preliminary investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The BriefWire