Ayodhya Ram Mandir Donation Theft Rss Dattatreya Hosabale Champat Rai

In its first statement on the alleged theft of donated funds from Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said the incident has hurt sentiments of the entire Hindu society and it is essential to ensure that anyone found guilty after the investigation faces severe punishment.

The statement issued by Dattatreya Hosabale, RSS Sarkaryavah (General Secretary), and shared on X, said, “The grand temple constructed at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi has become a center of reverence, faith, and devotion for the entire Hindu society, owing to the struggles of generations and the dedication, sacrifice, and martyrdom of crores of Rambhakts. The unfortunate incident of theft in the donation boxes kept at the Shri Ram Lalla temple in Ayodhya has deeply hurt the sentiments and faith of the entire society and Ram devotees; we are all extremely pained and angered by this event.”

It said that on the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and initiated legal proceedings based on its recommendations.

“It is natural for the entire Hindu society, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to expect the Trust to treat this highly condemnable incident as an extraordinary matter and take effective steps to rectify all shortcomings in temple management and operations,” Hosabale said.

“In this regard, we expect the temple management and the government-appointed SIT to take all necessary initiatives,” he said.

He added that the RSS calls upon the “entire Hindu society” to “thwart conspiracies of anti-Hindu and anti-national forces seeking to malign Hindu dharma and society by exploiting this unfortunate incident”.

Eight men — Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, and Subhash Srivastav — have been arrested so far. Tinnu used to work as a driver for Champat Rai, general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Srivastav, a retired bank employee, was in charge of the donation counting shifts while the other six were involved in counting work.

Rai and trustee Anil Mishra had sent their resignations to the Trust after the FIR was lodged on June 25 and arrests were made. Officials had said they were the key persons behind the administration of the temple and knew the eight accused. The Trust had earlier said a decision on the resignation letters would be taken at its next meeting.