After the arrest of eight accused in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple, sources revealed that the Temple Trust has not brought in any new outsourced employees. The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had engaged staff through an outsourcing agency following a surge in devotees during the Mahakumbh last year, primarily for housekeeping duties.
The Trust’s main bank account is held at the State Bank of India (SBI), where investigators are looking into the potential involvement of bank officials in the matter. Police are set to interrogate the branch manager and take his statement as part of the investigation.
According to insiders, the outsourced employees were not required to have specific qualifications as they were not tasked with cash counting. Their responsibilities included straightening crumpled currency notes and arranging them neatly, while the actual counting was done by SBI staff using advanced currency counting machines.
Sources also mentioned that Subhash Srivastava, in charge of the counting process for donation boxes, and former Trustee Anil Mishra, held responsible for oversight lapses, were not SBI employees. The police are focusing on a former SBI manager, now at a different branch, and bank employees involved in counting temple donations for questioning.
Former Trustee Anil Mishra, who signed the MoU with the bank, is expected to have his statement recorded later this week as part of the ongoing probe.
