SIT submits final report to Ram Janmabhoomi Trust in Ayodhya temple donation theft case

A view of Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya Dwar of Ram Temple in Ayodhya | Photo Credit: ANI The Uttar Pradesh Home Department has handed over the Special Investigation Team's final report in the Ayodhya Ram temple donation theft case to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to take further action, an official statement said on Monday (August 17, 2026).The three-member SIT, headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, was constituted by the State government on June 13 at the request of the Trust, before the Supreme Court intervened in the matter.Range Inspector General Kiran S. and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar are the other members.The panel had submitted its preliminary report to the State government on June 23, making several stringent recommendations.Based on the preliminary report, Trust member Krishnamohan filed a written complaint at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station, following which an FIR was registered in the case on June 25.The FIR named eight people — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu — and other unidentified individuals as accused.The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.The preliminary report had also formed the basis for subsequent FIR and arrest-related action in the case. Published - August 18, 2026 10:37 am IST