So far it is through the police which has unearthed fake donation receipt books with the name and logo of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust that is now the focus of investigators looking for a bigger scam going on in Ayodhya.
According to sources, the accused admitted during questioning that they diverted cash donations meant for the Ram Temple but also obtained money from devotees by issuing counterfeit donation receipts that closely resembled those officially used by the Trust.
Investigators seized several fake receipt books with the Trust’s logo, the newspaper reported. The forged receipts were made up of fake stuff and sold, making it look like devotees had received their donations and which had been officially recognized by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
People involved here are Tinnu Yadav, Lav Kush, Karunesh, Anukalp and others. It was found that the accused used the fake receipt books to convince the pilgrims visiting Ayodhya that their donations were for the Ram temple.
A source said the accused eventually stopped using the fake receipt books after the Trust replaced its paper-based receipt system with digitally generated online receipts, making it considerably harder to circulate forged acknowledgements.
Police Probe Scope of the Fraud
The recovery of the counterfeit receipt books is seen as a great breakthrough in the investigation.
Police will now analyze the seized documents to see how many devotees may have received fake receipts and what was the total amount of money obtained through the fraudulent scheme.
Investigators think the operation might have continued for some time, especially after the inauguration of the Ram Temple, when Ayodhya saw a huge surge in the number of pilgrims from all over the country.
Investigators are also looking into whether other people were involved in printing, distributing and using the fake receipt books, and whether the same method was employed at more than one donation collection site.
Earlier Probe Revealed Alleged Cash Diversion
This follows earlier findings that apparently revealed a second manner of siphoning off devotees' offerings before the Trust's official donation system.
According to police sources, some staff members in counting temple donations allegedly diverted cash during the counting process.
The accused used sophisticated methods to avoid detection, detectives say. They were hiding cash in washrooms during working hours, exploited CCTV blind spots and they retrieved the hidden money after their shifts.
Police believe that such practices could have been repeated for several weeks and the embezzlement was not detected at that time.
Trust Tightens Security Measures
Following the alleged thefts, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has greatly enhanced the security of the donation counting process.
The staff in the counting room are now required to be frisked before entering and leaving the facility. Staff are also required to wear pocketless gowns to eliminate the possibility of concealing cash.
In addition, there has been enhanced CCTV surveillance, and the security is now better. CCTV surveillance has been beefed-up and security personnel are instructed to do better monitoring and closer monitoring of donations and tighter monitoring that will be done for a more supervised monitoring and a tighter control of donations.
Police are still investigating the fraud and trying to find out who was involved and the money lost through fake donation receipts.
