Lucknow: Police investigating the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya have seized a motorcycle and a sedan allegedly belonging to accused Ram Shankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, suspecting that the vehicles were purchased using misappropriated donation funds.The seizure was made following information provided by Tinnu Yadav and his nephew, Manish Yadav, during a 39-hour police remand, during which they were confronted with CCTV footage, financial records and other evidence gathered during the investigation.Sources said the accused were interrogated separately to verify their statements, identify contradictions and reconstruct the alleged conspiracy.“The seized motorcycle and sedan were purchased with money siphoned off from temple donations. Financial records, bank transactions and asset details are being scrutinised to establish the money trail and determine whether other properties were acquired using the embezzled funds,” an officer said.Investigators are analysing bank accounts, electronic devices, call detail records and CCTV footage while verifying the statements of the accused with forensic and documentary evidence.Officials said further forensic examination, financial analysis and custodial questioning are expected to determine the extent of the conspiracy and whether more arrests and property seizures are warranted in the coming days.The latest remand follows several rounds of custodial interrogation in the case. On July 3, police questioned co-accused Avinash Shukla during a 24-hour custody remand.On July 8 and 9, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey were questioned during a 40-hour custody remand, leading to the recovery of two SUVs allegedly purchased using misappropriated donation money, along with cash, gold ornaments and investment-related documents.Retired bank employee Subhash Chandra Srivastava, who supervised the temple’s cash-counting operation, and Ramashankar Mishra, responsible for transporting sealed donation boxes from the temple to the counting centre, were questioned for 14 hours on July 15.Investigators confronted them with statements made by co-accused and examined the movement of donation money, the chain of custody and their roles in the suspected embezzlement.So far, police have recovered cash, gold ornaments, vehicles allegedly purchased with siphoned funds, and documents related to investments and other assets. Several bank accounts linked to the accused and their family members have also been frozen as part of the investigation.
