A Special Investigation Team set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the alleged embezzlement of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram temple found 70 instances of counting staff hiding bundles of notes and loose cash in their clothes, pockets and shoes. The report submitted by the SIT, which Scroll has reviewed, pins blame for the dilution of the security protocol in the counting room on trustee Anil Mishra, whose resignation from the post was accepted on Monday.

The team examined CCTV footage of the counting room from April 27 to June 5. Although the trust’s internal audits recommended the preservation of 180 days of footage, it “did not take these reports seriously, which led to the present problem”, said the report.

The SIT said that bank records of the accused and witness statements suggest that similar thefts were happening even earlier, but without CCTV footage. Read on.

The Delhi High Court ordered that the X account of the political campaign Cockroach Janta Party be unblocked. This came after the Union government said that it had no objections to the account being restored.

The account had been blocked on May 21 “in response to a legal demand”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the account had been blocked in view of the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. The re-exam for medical college seats was held on June 21.

Dipke said that the court’s order was a “big win” not only for the political campaign but also for “free speech and digital rights”. Read on.

At least two persons were killed in a landslide at the site of a road tunnel project in the Kelladi area of Kerala’s Wayanad district. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority said that the debris accumulated during excavation of the Wayanad-Kelladi tunnel slid down after heavy rainfall.

Seven persons are missing and seven others have been rescued, Chief Minister VD Satheesan said. He added that the soil excavated during the construction work should have been removed. Satheesan claimed that the contractors did not obey the orders of the Public Works Department Minister PK Basheer and the collector to clear the mud accumulated in the area. Read on.

The Gujarat High Court upheld the death sentence handed to 38 of the 49 persons convicted in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case. Rejecting all appeals filed by the convicts, a division bench also upheld the life imprisonment given to the remaining 11 persons.

Twenty-two explosions had ripped through the city on July 26, 2008, leaving 56 dead and more than 200 injured. A special court had, in February 2022, convicted the 49 persons.

Twenty-eight persons had been acquitted in the case and one person accused in the matter had turned an approver for the prosecution. Read on.

The Supreme Court refused to entertain a petition seeking to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay and other Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leaders from making public statements about the Karur stampede. The stampede took place on September 27 at Vijay’s rally in the district and left 41 persons dead.

In its petition, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam sought directions to restrain the state ministers from commenting on the investigation or extending welfare benefits to families of those who died in the stampede. The party raised concerns that such interactions could influence the probe. Read on.

India will sell BrahMos and Astra missiles to Indonesia, the two countries said. The agreement, which expands defence cooperation between the two countries, was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jakarta.

The two countries also agreed to enhance real-time maritime information sharing and strengthen maritime security cooperation. Read on.

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