New Delhi: On Friday, June 26, all eight accused named in the FIR filed in Ayodhya on Thursday were arrested and remanded to judicial custody. The FIR is based on a complaint of theft, misappropriation, embezellement of funds and valuables from the Ram Temple in the town.Also on Friday, Champat Rai, general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, and trustee Anil Mishra, both in the eye of the storm regarding the allegedly missing donations, resigned. Rai resigned citing “moral” grounds, the Times of India reports.However, PTI reports that the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), of which Rai is international vice president, said on Friday that it had “no knowledge” of the resignation. The report cited Vinod Bansal, spokesperson of the outfit. Earlier, the VHP chief Alok Kumar had called the reports of theft at the temple “extremely painful” to hear about.The FIR, filed on the complaint of a trustee of the Ram temple, names Avinash Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, his brother Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Yadav (a.k.a. Tinnu), Rama Shankar Mishra, a cash counter, and Subhash Srivastav. It does not name any higher-ups in the temple administration other than Srivastav, who was in charge of the donation counting centre.On Friday afternoon, KC Verma, Prosecution Officer for Ayodhya, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, told reporters the accused would be produced before a special court on Monday (June 29). He also said that Rs 79,85,493 was recovered from seven of the eight acused. Subhash Srivastava, he said, was involved in the conspiracy of embezzlement, but nothing was recovered from him, reports ANI.Rai’s driver, Tinnu Yadav, is among those arrested by police on Friday. Tinnu Yadav is reportedly a close associate of Rai’s.Rai is not named in the FIR though he and some others close to the trust were questioned, reportedly “for hours” at the temple premises, by a a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the state government to probe the investigations.Rai is said to have been involved in overseeing day-to-day affairs at the temple, which was built after the Supreme Court cleared the way for it in 2019. He has been a full-time RSS pracharak and has been associated with the VHP for decades, and with the movement that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid.Mahant Nritya Gopal Das of the Maniram Chhawani (a significant religious centre in Ayodhya) was appointed as the trust president.On the other hand, Nripendra Mishra, former principal secretary in the PMO, who chairs the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Construction Committee, earlier defended Rai while proposing a full-time CEO to manage the daily affairs.The FIR comes nearly three weeks after allegations first surfaced that crores of rupees and silver and gold items donated by devotees to the temple, built where the Babri Masjid once stood, had been stolen.After an outcry over the theft allegations, first made public on June 7, the Uttar Pradesh government set up the SIT instead of starting a police investigation. However, individuals claiming to have donated valuables to the temple coffers surfaced on social media and in news reports, and demanded accountability from the trust.The Karsewakpuram priest and others sought to allay fears and questioned the reports, but the anger continued to rise.Also read: ‘Without an FIR, SIT is like a Bow Without Arrows’: Akhilesh Yadav on Ram Mandir Scam ReportThe Kotwali Ramjanmabhoomi Police Station finally filed the FIR, dated June 26, based on a complaint from Krishna Mohan, a member of the temple trust itself, reports say.Other religious figures who question the handling of the temple’s affairs – raising objections ranging from how its establishment deviated from Hindu traditions to political involvement in the trust and temple’s affairs – have also pointed fingers at Rai.An Indian Express report said on Friday that the temple has outsourced the management of its donations and temple funds to a bank, which in turn hired “a private agency” to do this work. It is unclear if any of the arested accused were part of this outsourced team or temple trust employees.Even the SIT’s job is not yet over. Headed by Vijay Vishwas Pant, Lucknow divisional commissioner, Kiran S., the inspector-general of the Lucknow range, and Neel Ratan, a special secretary in the finance department, it has only handed over preliminary findings to the chief secretary to the chief minister, Sanjay Prasad, so far. The full contents are not known to the public.Reports on Friday said that the SIT members are scheduled to visit the temple (in Ayodhya) in coming days and that it will make “recommendations and suggestions” for stricter management of proceeds. It has been given 15 more days to report to Chief Minister Adiyanath’s office.The chief minister had earlier condemned those who raised an alarm over the theft allegations. The SIT then set out to question trustees, Champat Rai, and others, including those mentioned in the FIR, as per a report in the New Indian Express.The report also says Rs 2 crore and gold was “recovered” based on the questions asked by the SIT. Note that the latest figure of roughly Rs 78.8 lakh cited by a judicial officer is significantly lower than the original reported figure.The Wire had earlier reported that on June 19, a former ‘kar sevak’, Santosh Dubey, had joined two others before him in lodging compliants about the alleged theft with local police in Ayodhya. All three complaints referred to Champat Rai, secretary of the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, with one alleging he was directly responsible for the missing donations. (No FIR was filed in these cases.)A separate petition seeking a probe into the entire affair has been requested before the Supreme Court, however, the cour has asked the matter to be mentioned before it on June 29.A report, dated June 19, in Dainik Bhaskar, said the SIT recorded the statement of donors, including Mumbai-based businessman Anil Vishwakarma, who alleged his family donated a 3-kg silver garland and a 1-kg silver charan paduka for the deity in the Ayodhya temple, but never received a receipt for it.The Indian Express also reported on June 24 that a private auditing firm had warned of serious problems in how the temple was managing funds six years earlier, warnings that appear to have been ignored.The FIR has been registered under Sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, relating to allegations of conspiring to commit as well as committing theft, criminal breach of trust, dealing in or concealing stolen property, criminal conspiracy.The controversy first surfaced when former Uttar Pradesh minister Pawan Pandey alleged that between Rs 5 crore and Rs 7.5 crore had been stolen from the temple, which former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav amplified. The SIT was formed a week later.