A special court in Ayodhya on Friday granted the police 39 hours’ custody remand of Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and his nephew Manish Yadav, the last two accused yet to undergo custodial interrogation in the alleged Ram temple donation theft case.
Event Context
The court’s order comes a day after the Ayodhya police sought seven days’ police custody, contending that questioning the uncle-nephew duo was essential to reconstructing the alleged conspiracy and corroborating evidence gathered during earlier rounds of interrogation.
Officials said the custody of Tinnu Yadav and Manish Yadav is expected to be crucial for verifying the money trail, establishing the chain of events surrounding the alleged embezzlement, identifying the role of each accused and reconciling evidence collected during previous custodial interrogations before the filing of the final police report.
Team Analysis
Tinnu Yadav, considered a key accused in the case, was regarded as a close aide of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s former general secretary Champat Rai and had been associated with the temple’s donation management system.
Tinnu Yadav reportedly used to oversee the temple’s donation boxes, while Manish used to handle the counting of offerings. The police recovered ₹1 lakh from Tinnu’s house and ₹2 lakh from Manish’s house during raids last month.
Match Outlook
Police officials said the two accused will be taken into custody from the Ayodhya district jail on Saturday morning, after which investigators will begin what is expected to be the final phase of custodial interrogation before completing the investigation and filing the chargesheet.
The interrogation is expected to focus on the alleged diversion of devotees’ donations, the specific role of the two accused in the cash-counting process, the movement of the allegedly misappropriated cash and the suspected investment of the proceeds in movable and immovable assets.
The criminal investigation is progressing alongside a parallel administrative inquiry by the Uttar Pradesh government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has completed its probe into alleged supervisory failures, security lapses and procedural deficiencies in the temple’s donation management system. The SIT is expected to submit its final report to the state government after it updates the Supreme Court on the status of the probe.
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According to investigators, Tinnu Yadav and Manish Yadav will be confronted with statements made by the six co-accused who have already undergone police custody, as well as financial records, electronic evidence and documents recovered during the investigation.
The case pertains to the alleged theft of cash donations from the strong room of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. Eight persons, most of whom were engaged in the temple’s cash-counting process through outsourced agencies, have been arrested in connection with the case.
Police have already completed custodial interrogation of the remaining six accused in multiple phases between July 3 and July 15. During those interrogations, investigators claimed to have recovered cash, gold ornaments, two sport utility vehicles allegedly purchased using misappropriated donations, and documents relating to investments and other assets. Several bank accounts linked to the accused and their family members have also been frozen as part of the financial investigation.
