Startling disclosures are now available about how money was being siphoned off in bundles and how the theft was detected when a safai karmachari stumbled upon a bag containing currency bundles inside the bathroom at the famous Ram Lalla Temple in Ayodhya. No doubt the thieves were acting as part of a gang diving the loot between them.
They were sharp and clever and they knew how to evade detection when random frisking was ordered. The story begins in the first week of June. The counting room is large where temple donation boxes are brought. Boxes are opened and currency notes and coins are dumped on four tables. There is a main table with four chairs on which the counting staff sits to count currency notes and makes piles and bundles. It was here that the counting staff used to stuff bundles inside their pockets and even inside socks.
Twenty-two persons worked in a single shift and none was frisked. They used to come wearing shirts and pants having double pockets. Food refreshments were brought inside the counting room. Each staff member used to spend Rs 1000 a day on samosas or Rs 800 on kachoris. The thieves were fast becoming rich. From Day One, all rules were thrown to the winds.
The SOP was: daily frisking of each staff, ban on wearing clothes having pockets, ban on eating inside counting room and prohibition on going outside the room during counting. Each SOP rule was broken. Subhash Shrivastav, who was given the task of supervising counting, was the first to break the rule. On Day One, when security personnel tried to frisk him, he shouted at them: “We are swayamsevaks, how can anyone suspect us?” Champat Rai quickly changed SOP rules. He directed that frisking will not be done daily, only random frisking will be done. It was the job of Ayodhya police to frisk them, but policemen were not allowed to come near the counting room.
CCTV footage for the entire temple premises, except the counting room, was made available to police. When currency notes were dumped on tables, it was Anil Mishra’s duty to ensure that counting was done smoothly. Those doing the counting were relatives of Anil Mishra and Tinnu Yadav, the right-hand man of Champat Rai. In a nutshell, it was the job of a close group.
The members of this group had no fear because they were close relatives of those who were running the show. Piles of currency notes were being counted and sorted into bundles. The thieves used to slip in a bundle or two inside their trousers and even inside their socks. It was a free for all. They did not bother that they were under CCTV cover. How did the theft then come to notice? In the first week of June, one of the counting staff became the whistleblower. He complained to Champat Rai about money being pilfered.
Champat Rai consulted some ex-army officers. It was decided to carry out a random frisking. The thieves were clever. They got whiff of the random frisking in advance. On that day, one by one, they went to the bathroom to hide their bundles of currency notes inside a bag. Nothing was found when the random frisking was done and Champat Rai scolded the whistleblower. The latter said he saw with his own eyes counting staff stuffing notes inside their pockets. It was then that a safai karmachari stumbled upon a bag containing currency notes hidden inside the bathroom and the can of worms opened.
Champat Rai watched the CCTV footage, he saw how the counting staff tried to hide the view of CCTV cameras several times. He also saw two or four persons stuffing bundles inside their pockets. Champat Rai was stunned. He took his private security guards, went to the homes of the counting staff, and recovered nearly Rs 80 lakh cash, including US$1100. Later, Rs 20 lakh was recovered from their bank accounts. In all, more than a crore rupees were recovered. Champat Rai was angry, worried and frustrated. But he was still unwilling to hand over the matter to the police.
Champat Ram admitted these men committed a crime, but he said, if the case was handed over to the police, their careers would be spoiled. His argument was, now that the money has been recovered, these men should be pardoned and they should be assigned some other work. By then, news of these happenings entered the public domain. After much pressure, Champat Rai agreed to an SIT probe.
The SIT collected as many evidence as it could. Subhash Shrivastav and Tinnu Yadav and nearly 70 others were questioned. When the CCTV footage was checked, the SIT found the truth. Soon after, news started appearing on TV channels about donors complaining that they had donated costly ornaments to the Trust. Raju Manwani said, he had donated 200 silver bricks on behalf of Sindi Association.
All India Bullion Traders Association North India head Anurag Rastogi said, he had donated a silver diya stand and silver bricks to Champat Rai. Another devotee Anita Bhardwaj had donated Kaagbhushundi made of silver, while Srinivas Shastri from Hyderabad said, he had donated silver Charan Padukas, silver bricks and gold plated silver Dhanush to the Trust. Since the slit of donation boxes are small, these donations were handed over personally. There is a counter in Ram Mandir where such donations are accepted.
The SIT found all these costly ornaments from Champat Rai’s residence. He had kept them safely inside his room and had a list of these offerings. But due to old age, he could not remember where all other gifts have been kept. Champat Rai had kept Rs 80 lakh recovered cash in his safe. By then, the theives had confessed how they stole the money. The question now is: how much cash and ornaments are still not accounted for? My estimate is that the entire theft could be more than Rs 4 crore.
The series of thefts began when huge crowds of devotees turned up in Ayodhya during January 2025 Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. On an average Rs 5-6 lakh donation was stolen daily. On some other days, donations were shown in thousands, but these were mostly in the form of coins. The pilferage was going on since long because the supervisors were in cahoots with the thieves. Valuation of costly gold and silver ornaments was supposed to be done by Minting Corporation of India. Minting Corporation staff came and stayed in the premises for nearly 45 days.
They melted silver and made valuations, but Champat Rai complained that it would be costly to hire Minting Corporation officials and these officials left Ayodhya. In fact, Champat Rai wanted neither the Minting Corporation, nor the police, nor Bank officials, nor any CEO inside the temple premises. The RSS leadership had asked Champat Rai to put in place a proper system 36 months ago.
It had advised him to hire professionals, but Champat Rai stuck to his stand. RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders now realize that they should not have wasted time in persuading Champat Rai, but nobody had to the courage to convey the message sternly to him. Champat Rai’s autocratic style continued because most of the members of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust are old. The founder member senior advocate K. Parasaran is a member of the Trust. He is 99 and unable to attend meetings.
The chairman of the Trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das is 88. He lives in Ayodhya but his health is failing. He hardly interferes in the work of the trust. Ninety-one-year-old Swami Parmanand Ji Maharaj is also a trust member, but he stays in Haridwar and is unable to travel. Another trustee Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Maharaj is more than 80, lives in Prayagraj. He is also unable to attend meetings regularly. The chief of Pejavar Mutt of Karnataka Swami Vishwaprasanna Teerth Ji Maharaj is also a trustee. He lives in Udupi. The treasurer Swami Govind Dev Ji Maharaj lives in Pune and he has entrusted most of the financial work to Anil Mishra, the man in the eye of the storm.
Only Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Nirmohi Akhara chief Swami Dinendra Das are the three trustees who stay in Ayodhya. Swami Dinendra Das is ailing most of the time, and the entire responsibility fell on Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. They decided what they liked, they changed rules to suit their tastes and whims. Those who committed the sin by stealing Lord Ram’s money will get the punishment they deserve from law courts, but in Sanatani tradition, there is the belief that such sinners may have to face retribution during the next seven life cycles.
RSS and VHP leaders have now woken up and in the July 6 trust meeting, new appointments will be made to replace Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. There is a third appointment to be made. Vimalendra Mohan Pratap Mishra of Ayodhya’s former ruling family has passed away and his post is vacant. Three new trustees will be appointed. My suggestion is, it will be better if those having good experience in banking, finance and administrative matters are appointed as trustees. The Ram Mandir also needs a professional CEO to handle day-to-day matters.
In Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam, counting of donation money is done by bank employees and retired bank officials. They are allowed to wear a single dhoti during counting, which is done in the presence of all. Ram Mandir needs a similar foolproof system. My suggestion is, the temple should also have a Chief Vigilance Officer who should be independent and whose integrity must be unquestionable. In India, we do not have any shortage of sincere police officers.