A first information report was registered on Thursday against eight persons for alleged embezzlement of donations made to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The FIR was filed based on a complaint by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple, The Hindu reported.

It invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to theft by a clerk or servant, criminal breach of trust, stolen property and criminal conspiracy.

The development came after the Special Investigation Team submitted its preliminary report on the allegations to the state government. The contents of the report have not been made public.

However, unidentified persons aware of its contents told The Indian Express that the report highlights alleged lapses, inadequate supervision and negligence in the handling, maintenance and counting of donated cash and valuables.

The government said that the investigating team would continue its work and submit a final report after 15 days.

The team was set up by the state government on June 14 following a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, The Hindu reported.

Opposition leaders and a whistleblower have claimed that cash and jewellery offerings made by devotees had been embezzled by temple staffers under the trust’s watch.

The Ram temple in Ayodhya was built on the site of the Babri Masjid, which was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born.

In 2019, the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque was illegal, but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be built.

The Ram temple was inaugurated in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024.

Edited by Sneha.

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