AYODHYA (UP), Sept 6: A court in Ayodhya has extended until September 18 the judicial custody of all eight accused arrested in connection with the alleged theft and embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, their lawyer said on Saturday.
The order was passed by Special Judge Rajat Verma of the Anti-Corruption Court in Ayodhya.
Advocate Kul Shekhar Singh, who represents the accused, said the court extended the judicial custody of all eight individuals, who are currently lodged in jail.
The accused are Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav.
The case was registered after an FIR was lodged on June 25 following a preliminary report submitted by a Special Investigation Team constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The accused were associated with the process of counting cash and other offerings received at the temple. Most of them were bank employees deployed for handling the donation-counting process. Srivastava was responsible for overseeing the counting operation, while Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver.
During the proceedings, the defence maintained that the accused had been falsely implicated. In his bail application, Srivastava explained the donation-counting procedure and argued that several other individuals were also involved in the process, according to his counsel.
The lawyer said the court will hear the bail applications of three accused on September 11. Bail pleas filed by another three accused are scheduled for September 14, while the applications of the remaining two will be taken up on September 15.
The prosecution has alleged embezzlement of cash and valuables offered by devotees at the Ram temple. Investigators have so far recovered Rs 79.85 lakh in connection with the case.
Separately, the defence has also sought the unfreezing of Srivastava’s Canara Bank account. His lawyer had told the court on Tuesday that the account was used to receive his pension and support his family.
The court subsequently deferred the plea seeking de-freezing of the account to September 9.
The latest order means all eight accused will remain in judicial custody while their respective bail applications are considered by the court later this month.