After the Ayodhya donation theft probe filed its first report, the harder questions are only beginning The SIT investigating the theft from Ram Mandir's donation boxes has handed its preliminary report to the government, yet the role of senior trust officials remains unanswered. Alongside it, the Lucknow fire has put coaching centre safety and a NEET re-exam impersonation racket back in the spotlight. The SIT probing the theft of cash from the Ram Mandir donation boxes has submitted its preliminary report to the government. Because it is only an initial report, the heat of the inquiry has not yet reached the senior office-bearers of the Ram Mandir Trust. Meanwhile, trust secretary Champat Rai appeared on a public stage for the first time since the controversy erupted, at the flag-hoisting ceremony of the Sheshavatar temple. What stood out was that every face linked to the trust who is under suspicion stood together on that stage, as if nothing had happened. The biggest question is simple. How is it possible that money was being stolen from the donation boxes again and again, yet those running the system never got a hint of it? The counting rules that had been laid down were ignored, and the management claims it had no idea of that either, which is hard to believe. People walking out with bundles of notes stuffed in their pockets were never frisked. Those assigned to the counting work were building houses, buying shops and bringing home new cars, and while everyone around them noticed, the trust management apparently saw nothing. What is equally striking is that when some people came forward with information about the theft, the trust's top officials refused to believe them. Cash was recovered from homes and large sums were found in bank accounts, yet the head of the trust could not accept that his own close people might steal from Lord Ram's home. Champat Rai wrote the letter to set up the SIT, gave his own testimony, told the team everything and then assumed his job was done. But the story is far from over. This is only the preliminary report, and the real investigation is yet to come. The real questions now rest on a few points. Who got their relatives placed in the counting work? Who stalled the appointment of the CEO? Who pushed Mint Corporation out of the picture? And who buried the information about the theft from the donation boxes? All of this must be investigated, and everyone who shared in this wrongdoing must be held to account. The most surprising part is that standing in the court of Ram Lalla, Champat Rai did not say a single word about the theft of the offerings. He prayed for the souls of those killed in the Lucknow fire, but he did not even pray to Ram Lalla that those who stole the offerings be given the harshest punishment. Coaching centres or death traps? After 15 young people died in a fire at a gaming zone in Lucknow, the administration has finally woken up. Police have arrested the building owner, the owner of a Pet Shop, the operator of Hoopers gaming zone and an animation academy, and Suresh Sahu, who runs an IT company. Two others are still on the run. Four officials from the Lucknow Development Authority, the fire brigade and the electricity department have been suspended. The authority has also ordered the building owner to demolish the structure within 15 days. This is not the story of one building in Lucknow alone. Most coaching centres and commercial buildings running across the country have no solid fire safety arrangements and no emergency exits. Once the Lucknow tragedy struck, officials sprang into action and raids on coaching centres began nationwide. From Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan to Gujarat, security audits of coaching centres and gaming zones are under way, and negligence in safety arrangements is showing up everywhere. Teams of the Kanpur Development Authority sealed 16 illegal coaching and commercial establishments. This is not the condition of a single city or a single centre. When coaching centres in cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Patna and Gorakhpur were inspected, none had any reliable fire safety arrangement. Across the country, a coaching centre effectively means no proper building, no emergency exit and no fire safety. They have become little more than money-making dens where the safety of students counts for nothing. The problem does not stop at the centres. The rooms and buildings where these students live are unsafe too; they catch fire, their basements flood, and students have lost their lives there as well. The conditions that have come to light on coaching centre safety should be the basis for a nationwide audit of coaching centres and hostel facilities, along with strict guidelines that state governments are responsible for enforcing rigorously. How the NEET impersonators were caught During the NEET re-exam in Lakhisarai, Bihar, 9 MBBS students were arrested while sitting the test in place of the real candidates. Bihar police may claim they nabbed every 'Munna Bhai' who turned up for NEET, but the truth is the police had no clue about the racket. The exam was already under way when, in the afternoon, the Bihar police headquarters and the NTA received an email from an unknown person. It said that at the NEET centre in the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Lakhisarai, a woman named Poonam, who is studying nursing at BHU, was sitting the exam in place of the real candidate Madhupriya. Police then moved in and caught Poonam. She confessed, and one by one, 9 MBBS students were caught taking the exam in place of other candidates. The National Testing Agency had given the contract for biometric authentication of students to EDCIL, which in turn handed the job to a company called Innovative Vue. On Tuesday it emerged that this company had been blacklisted by the Uttar Pradesh government in 2022. In 2025, the governments of Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu had also put the company on their blacklists. Despite this, the contract for checking students' biometrics during the NEET re-exam went to the same company. To carry out the biometric checks, the company had hired local people for 500 rupees each. These were the people who, after taking money, let in nine MBBS students summoned from different parts of the country in place of the genuine candidates. The company's local staff took the real candidates' biometrics in a car parked far from the three exam centres. Once the biometric authentication was done, the MBBS students were sent into the exam halls in place of the real candidates. In this case, police have arrested a total of 30 people, including one candidate and 18 employees of the biometric company. The mastermind of the entire operation is Ashwini Kumar, a third-year student at Patna Medical College. The details of the 9 MBBS students who reached Lakhisarai to take the exam are equally shocking. Mantosh Kumar, an MBBS fourth-year student at Jalpaiguri Medical College in West Bengal, had come to sit the exam in place of Sanjit. Vivek Kumar, an MBBS fourth-year student at AN Medical College in Gaya, also came to take the exam but was caught. Himanshu Kumar, a first-year student at Satna Medical College, was sitting in place of Shubham Verma. Saurabh Jha, a fourth-year student at AIIMS Raebareli, had gone to take the exam in place of Ishan Singh. Poonam Kumari, who is doing a nursing course at BHU, had come to Lakhisarai to sit the exam posing as Madhu Priya. Aman Agrawal, doing his MBBS internship at the University College of Medical Sciences in Delhi, was also part of this racket. Chanchal Kumari, studying Ayurveda at a Government Medical College in Odisha, had reached Lakhisarai to take the exam in place of Nandini Raj. All of them had been assembled by Ashwini Kumar of Patna. A demand of 60 lakh rupees was made to get a single candidate through, of which 25 lakh rupees were to go to Ashwini Kumar. Two middlemen have also been arrested along with them. But one question still has no answer: why did these medical students gamble away their careers for money, when they were themselves on the path to becoming doctors? The backgrounds of several of the arrested MBBS students are startling. Most of them come from middle-class families and some are extremely poor. The father of the mastermind is a farmer who sold his land to make his son a doctor. The son had already completed half his medical studies. His parents were dreaming that once he became a doctor their hard work would pay off, but instead the son ended up in jail. What this means for you • For students and parents: With coaching centres and hostels being audited nationwide, check fire safety, emergency exits and the building's legality before taking admission. • For NEET aspirants: A blacklisted firm handling biometrics in the re-exam raises direct concerns about how secure the test really is. • For devotees: The probe into the donation theft is ongoing, so accountability for the money you offer is still to be decided. Questions & Answers 1. What has the SIT submitted to the government? The SIT probing the theft from Ram Mandir's donation boxes has handed its preliminary report to the government. It is only an initial report, and the real investigation is still pending. 2. Have the senior trust officials come under the probe? So far the inquiry has not reached the senior office-bearers of the trust. Secretary Champat Rai wrote the letter to set up the SIT and gave his own testimony. 3. How many people died in the Lucknow gaming zone tragedy? Fifteen young people died in the fire at the gaming zone in Lucknow. 4. Who faced action in the Lucknow case? Police arrested the building owner, a Pet Shop owner, the operator of the gaming zone and animation academy, and Suresh Sahu, while two are absconding. Four officials were suspended and the building was ordered demolished within 15 days. 5. How was the NEET re-exam fraud exposed? During the exam, the Bihar police headquarters and the NTA received an email from an unknown person, after which Poonam was caught and a total of 9 MBBS students were nabbed sitting the exam for others. 6. Who is the mastermind of this NEET racket? The mastermind of the entire operation is Ashwini Kumar, a third-year student at Patna Medical College. 7. How did the biometric checks fail? The NTA gave the biometric contract to EDCIL, which handed it to Innovative Vue. That firm had been blacklisted in UP in 2022 and in Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu in 2025, yet got the contract and hired locals for 500 rupees each. 8. How much money was demanded to get one candidate through? A demand of 60 lakh rupees was made to pass a single candidate, of which 25 lakh rupees were to go to Ashwini Kumar. https://trendkia.com/en/uttar-pradesh/ayodhya-ke-dana-patron-men-lagi-sendha-para-sit-ki-shuruati-riporta-sarakara-ke-pasa-asali-jancha-abhi-baki-2714 TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.