How a Water Seller Ended Up Handling Ram Mandir's Donations, According to the Yoga Teacher Who Housed Him

As Ayodhya Police's arrest count in the Ram Mandir donation theft case reaches eight, the yoga centre where Avinash and Abhishek Shukla lived for nearly five years combined, and from where about Rs 20 lakh was recovered, has its story told for the first time.

Ayodhya Police have arrested eight people so far in the Ram Mandir donation theft case, among them Avinash Shukla and Abhishek Shukla, who had been living at a yoga centre in Ayodhya for nearly five years between them. It was from this very yoga centre that police recovered close to Rs 20 lakh in cash. Accounts from local residents connected to the centre and from the woman who runs it have now surfaced, laying out in detail what happened on the night police arrived to take Avinash away.

The box that held Rs 20 lakh, and a donation box right beside it
The box from which the roughly Rs 20 lakh is said to have been recovered was kept inside the same yoga centre where Avinash Shukla lived. According to information given to the police, this is the very box the cash was pulled from. Right next to it stood a Ram Rajya Kosh, a donation box with a Paytm QR code stuck on it. In other words, the same room that hid lakhs of rupees in cash also had a QR code set up to collect digital donations.

Police knock at 7:30 in the evening, four people in tow
A local resident who handles cleaning and other upkeep work at the yoga centre said police arrived there around 7:30 in the evening on June 5. According to him, police brought Avinash along, and four people were present in total, two police personnel and two others. Police had the room's lock opened and pulled two bags out of the box, placing them on top of it. They then asked the resident to step outside the room. He walked out and the door was shut behind him. Soon after, he called Abhishek to tell him that police had brought his brother Avinash there and that he was inside, and asked Abhishek to come see the situation for himself.

The same resident said Abhishek Shukla had been living at the centre for around 10 years, that is, since 2017, while Avinash Shukla had been staying there for about a year and a half.

From selling water to counting cash at Ram Mandir
According to the local resident, Abhishek was seen from the start as a hardworking, straightforward young man. He said Abhishek studied hard and landed his job through sheer effort. He then brought his unemployed brother Avinash along and initially set him up selling water. Avinash used to sell bottled water near Hanuman Gufa. That venture, however, did not work out. Sometime later, some arrangement fell into place and Avinash was placed on counting duty, ganana work, at Ram Mandir, after which he began working there. The resident said he does not know who arranged this job or how, but suspects some relative or acquaintance of Abhishek's may have had a hand in it.

The yoga teacher says her Champat Rai meetings could be the link
The woman who runs the yoga centre said that when Avinash first arrived, he was working as a water seller. Later, she learned that he had landed a job at Ram Mandir. She said Abhishek once mentioned to her that his brother had got work there, though she could not say through what channel or source. She said she has had occasion to meet Champat Rai ji and has run into him at several events, where Avinash and Abhishek were also present. She believes that connection could be behind how Avinash got the job, though she did not confirm this herself.

Don't add Abhishek's name, the woman insists
On the case overall, the yoga teacher said clearly that only Avinash's name has come up in it so far, and Abhishek's name should not be attached to it. Whether Abhishek knew what was going on or not is something only God knows, she said, adding that she personally feels he did not know. She also said that even if he did know, that too is a matter for a higher power to judge.

CCTV footage shattered her belief, we are all hurt
The woman said a CCTV clip from June 5 itself has surfaced and gone viral. She said she did not believe the whole episode at first, but once she saw the footage, she understood that the cash had indeed been recovered from that spot. She said she and everyone connected to the centre are deeply hurt by this. She added that she does not normally appear on social media, but came forward this time to set the record straight. According to her, nothing like this has ever happened at the centre before, and everyone there is saddened by it.

She also clarified that Abhishek had spent the most time at the centre, having lived there for around 10 years, while Avinash arrived only about a year and a half ago, brought in by Abhishek who asked her to help find him some work so he could get started on something. She confirmed, finally, that it was the same Avinash who worked at Ram Mandir, and that is where this entire episode unfolded.

What this means for you
• Across India: Devotees who donate to major religious trusts like Ram Mandir have a stake in how securely that money is handled and how staff around it are vetted, and cases like this raise questions about transparency in the donation process.
• In Ayodhya: Local residents and institutions linked to the temple may now face calls for tighter background checks on staff hired for such roles.

Questions & Answers

1. How many people have been arrested so far in the Ram Mandir donation theft case?
Ayodhya Police have arrested eight people in the case so far.

2. How much cash was recovered from Avinash Shukla?
According to information given to police, about Rs 20 lakh in cash was recovered from him.

3. When did police arrive at the yoga centre?
A local resident said police arrived there around 7:30 in the evening on June 5.

4. How long had Avinash and Abhishek Shukla been living at the yoga centre?
Abhishek had been there for around 10 years, since 2017, while Avinash had been staying there for about a year and a half.

5. What did Avinash Shukla do before working at Ram Mandir?
He used to sell bottled water near Hanuman Gufa before being placed on counting duty at Ram Mandir.

6. Is Abhishek Shukla's name also linked to the case?
According to the woman who runs the yoga centre, only Avinash's name has come up in the case so far.

7. What else was found next to the box with the cash?
A donation box called Ram Rajya Kosh stood beside it, carrying a Paytm QR code.

8. What date is the viral CCTV footage from?
The CCTV footage that has gone viral is from June 5.

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