Fresh details have emerged in the theft of donation money from Ayodhya's Shri Ram Mandir after police questioned the accused. According to Ayodhya police sources, 6 of the 8 arrested accused were hired by the temple trust in March 2025, and within just 2 to 3 months of starting their jobs, they had already begun stealing currency notes. Seeing one another get away with it, the rest of the group followed suit. Investigators also found that the accused would gather for liquor parties, and it was during these sessions that the stolen money was actually divided among them.
From a note or two to full bundles of cash
The probe shows the accused started out cautiously. Initially, they would steal just one or two notes of Rs 500, tuck them inside their clothes, and walk out of the temple premises once their duty hours ended. Over time their confidence grew, and they moved on to stealing bundles of 10 notes at a time. As the pattern continued unchecked, the thefts kept escalating until the accused were walking away with large sums of cash. In short, what began as petty pilferage gradually snowballed into large-scale theft simply because no one intervened early.
Roughly Rs 2 to 3 crore stolen, over Rs 79 lakh recovered
During questioning, the accused themselves admitted to having stolen approximately Rs 2 to 3 crore in total so far. Of this, around Rs 79 lakh and a few thousand rupees have been recovered until now, meaning a significant portion of the stolen amount is still unaccounted for. The investigation also revealed that 7 of the 8 accused had used the stolen cash to build some form of property.
Stolen cash used to buy property, even in a father's name
Some of the accused used the stolen money to purchase property outside Ayodhya as well. One accused reportedly bought land in his father's name using funds obtained through theft. Around 4 and 5 June, the temple trust conducted raids at the hideouts of all the accused and recovered close to Rs 79 lakh in cash along with other stolen jewellery. Beyond this, police recovered additional cash based on information provided by the arrested accused.
Liquor parties in the forests along the 14 Kosi Parikrama route
The investigation found that some of the 8 accused used the stolen money to hold liquor parties in the forested stretches along the 14 Kosi Parikrama route. It was during these very parties that the loot was split among the group. After pulling off thefts inside the temple premises, the accused apparently chose these secluded spots to settle accounts among themselves without drawing attention.
A major lapse in monitoring the counting room
Another significant detail surfaced during the investigation. The accused told interrogators that the CCTV control room set up to monitor cameras inside the counting room was frequently left unattended, and proper monitoring often did not take place. The accused themselves admitted that they exploited exactly this laxity in the counting room's surveillance. In effect, this gap in the security setup gave the accused the opening they needed to keep stealing for months without being caught.
