AYODHYA (Kashmir English): Indian police have arrested eight people over allegations of theft and misappropriation of offerings at the Ram Mandir temple – built on site of razed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
The temple in northern Uttar Pradesh state was built on grounds where a Mughal-era mosque stood for centuries before being torn down by Hindu zealots. Babri Masjid was demolished by a Hindu mob in 1992 and Modi himself had inaugurated the temple in 2024.
There were allegations regarding irregularities in the handling of donations that led to a criminal case registered on Thursday, with police arresting eight people, including temple employees, according to a government statement issued late Thursday.
Most of the accused are those involved in counting or handling cash and valuables donated by devotees, including gold and silver, according to media reports.
The government, however, has not disclosed the scale of the alleged embezzlement.
According to estimates by the opposition parties and media, the embezzlement could amount to more than $20 million.
“It is so shameful that a shrine of such supreme importance is being discussed for all the wrong reasons,” said Viti Saxena, a 44-year-old homemaker who had donated to the temple.
“I now wonder if that actually went into the temple coffers or not. It is a matter of global shame now,” Saxena told an international news agency. “The faith of countless Hindu believers is shaken.”
The eight arrested face charges of criminal breach of trust, theft, criminal conspiracy and corruption, the government statement said.
Babri Masjid
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — then in the opposition — had played an instrumental role in public campaigning that eventually led to the mosque’s demolition in 1992.
It helped propel Modi’s BJP as an unstoppable electoral juggernaut, eventually displacing the secularist Congress party that had governed India almost without interruption since independence from Britain.
