Lucknow: The alleged theft of donation money at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya took place not during the counting process but at a ‘vulnerable stage’ just before currency notes were fed into counting machines, a senior RSS functionary familiar with the system has said.According to the functionary, once notes entered counting machines operated by an SBI outsourcing agency, the amounts were automatically recorded, leaving little scope for manipulation. The only stage where cash was handled manually was during the sorting and unfolding of notes, making it the most likely point of diversion.The temple’s donation collection process involves multiple layers of security, he said. Donation boxes inside the temple are secured with two separate locks, with one key held by SBI personnel and the other by officials of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, he added. One of the prime accused, Tinnu Yadav, had access to a key linked to the collection system.After the boxes are opened, donations are transferred to another double-locked container and transported to the basement of Pilgrims Facilitation Centre where counting machines are installed. Before counting, workers segregate notes by denomination and unfold crumpled currency to ensure smooth machine processing. Notes of Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50 are sorted separately from higher denominations, while valuables are categorised independently.Investigators believe the thefts took place during this manual sorting exercise, with cash allegedly siphoned off in small amounts over a prolonged period.Interestingly, Trust officials had reportedly grown suspicious of certain employees even before the matter came to light. The breakthrough came when a few workers involved in note sorting attempted to leave nearly an hour before their shift ended. Officials ordered security personnel to frisk them before exit.Sensing they could be caught, one employee allegedly hid stolen currency on a window ledge inside a washroom. The cash was later discovered by a sanitation worker, who informed authorities. The information was subsequently passed on to senior Trust officials, triggering further investigation.Despite the incident, the RSS functionary maintained that the Trust has put in place extensive safeguards to ensure financial transparency. As many as 22 bank accounts are operated across SBI, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank, each earmarked for specific purposes such as construction, salaries, aarti and puja expenses.Following the theft case, efforts are underway to further tighten procedures and plug any remaining loopholes in the temple’s donation management system, the functionary said.
