Ram Temple Donations: Supreme Court-Appointed SIT Flags 105 Instances of 'Theft', Chargesheet Likely in 2 Days
New Delhi: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court has made a note of 105 instances of alleged theft in connection with the fund embezzlement at Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir Trust. The Wire has learn that the chargesheet in the case is likely to be filed by September 24.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the SIT probe has arrived at the figure of 105 related instances of alleged theft based on an analysis of the CCTV footage, statements by eyewitnesses and donation records.
Earlier in August 2026, the SIT which was appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government had sent its final report to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for further action.
The probe panel set up by the UP government on June 13, 2026 comprised Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant as its head along with inspector general of police (Lucknow range) Kiran S and special secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar as members.
On July 26, 2026, following an order by the Supreme Court, the government-appointed panel was reconstituted with the second SIT now comprising Kiran S as chairperson along with DIG (Ayodhya) Somen Barma and SSP (Ayodhya) Gaurav Grover as its members.
Speaking to The Wire, defence lawyer Kulshekhar Singh who is representing all the eight accused in this case confirmed that 90-day duration within which chargesheet needs to be filed ends this month.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who is representing the Uttar Pradesh government in this case assured the Supreme Court bench that chargesheet will be submitted by September 25.
The Wire has reported extensively from the ground between June and July this year on the donations theft case after talking to various stakeholders associated with the Ram Mandir Trust.
Among the community of priests in Ayodhya, while some like Mahant Vivek Achari of the ancient Dant Dhavan Kund Achari temple has asked for a CBI probe to look into the money trail in this matter, other kar sevaks like Karpatri Maharaj associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement has repeatedly raised concerns at the dominant role played by Champat Rai, former general secretary of the Trust.
In a recent exclusive story, based on documents from the anti-corruption court in Ayodhya, The Wire also reported on the statement of accused Subhash Srivastava who was former counting in-charge of the Trust and had named 14 persons who were part of the daily counting and sorting processes within the temple premises and whose names were still not present in the only FIR filed in this case so far.
According to another report in the New Indian Express, based on sources, while the Supreme Court appointed SIT has identified 150 instances of alleged theft, action is likely to be taken against 25 persons, including former general secretary Champat Rai, former trustee Anil Mishra and construction in-charge Gopal Rao. There is, however, no official confirmation regarding the proposed action.
The panel is likely to submit the preliminary report to UP chief minister Adityanath on September 28, 2026.
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