Ayodhya (UP), Sep 25 The bail applications of two accused in the Ram Temple donation theft case were not heard on Friday after their lawyer did not press for them and sought time to examine the recently filed chargesheet.
Advocate Kul Shekhar Singh, representing accused Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav, said the matter was scheduled before Special Judge Rajat Verma of the Anti-Corruption Court.
“The bail applications were not pressed before the judge. I have received the chargesheet and will examine it before filing fresh bail applications,” Singh told PTI.
The chargesheet, filed by the Supreme Court-mandated Special Investigation Team (SIT), runs into around 70,000 pages and names 173 witnesses. The investigators have collected video evidence of 105 instances in which cash was allegedly diverted during the counting of donations, according to a senior police officer.
The case relates to alleged embezzlement of cash and valuables offered by devotees at the Ayodhya Ram Temple. Eight people were arrested in the case after an FIR was registered on June 25 based on a preliminary SIT report.
Most of the accused are bank employees deployed for counting donations.
Srivastava was allegedly supervising the counting process, while Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver. Yadav was a close aide of former Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai.
The prosecution said Rs 79.85 lakh of the suspected embezzled money was recovered during the investigation from all the accused except Srivastava.
According to the chargesheet, the SIT investigation did not find evidence of pilferage during the subsequent transfer of counted money to banks.
Investigators relied on CCTV footage from the cash-counting facility, witness statements, banking and financial records and a forensic audit.
Advocate Singh said the remaining six accused, whose bail applications had been rejected by the special court, would now approach the Allahabad High Court.
The special court rejected the bail pleas of Avinash Shukla, Manish Kumar Yadav and Ram Shankar Mishra on September 21 and the applications of Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey the next day.
(PTI News)
