Ayodhya, Sept 7:
An Anti-Corruption Court in Ayodhya has extended until September 18 the judicial custody of all eight accused arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of cash and valuables donated by devotees at the Ram temple.
The accused were arrested after an FIR was registered on June 25 following a preliminary report submitted by a Special Investigation Team constituted by the state government.
Special Judge Rajat Verma passed the order extending the judicial custody, according to lawyer Kul Shekhar Singh, who represents the accused.
The eight accused are Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav.
All eight were associated with the temple’s donation-counting process and are currently lodged in jail.
According to the prosecution, investigators have so far recovered Rs 79.85 lakh in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations.
Most of the accused were bank employees deployed for counting cash collections at the temple. Srivastava was reportedly responsible for the donation-counting process, while Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver.
The case involves allegations of misappropriation of cash and valuables offered by devotees at the Ram temple.
In a related development, the court is scheduled to hear on September 9 a plea seeking the unfreezing of the Canara Bank account of accused Subhash Srivastava. His counsel had argued that the account contained his pension and was being used to support his family.
The latest custody extension means all eight accused will remain in judicial custody while the investigation and related legal proceedings continue.