New Delhi: A 2021 letter reportedly related to the appointment of Subhash Srivastava, one of the eight accused in the Ram Mandir donations theft case, reveals that he was one of the staffers hired for counting but that he did not seem to be overlooking the entire process of counting and sorting of temple donations, as has been stated in various media reports including the preliminary report submitted earlier in June by the UP govt-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). Surprisingly, the document issued on the letterhead of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra camp office in Ayodhya does not specify the exact designation for which Srivastava was being hired. The appointment letter had been issued at a time when Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was the president. Swami Govinddev Giri Maharaj was the treasurer and Champat Rai was the general secretary. The absence of a specific designation suggests that Srivastava may not have been the sole in-charge of the counting process, with other staffers also having assigned duties. Some of those staffers are alleged to have taken part in the embezzlement, but their names have not been included in the only First Information Report (FIR) filed in this case so far.As reported by The Wire earlier, in a statement issued from jail, Srivastava had named 14 employees of the trust along with the trust’s banker, government-owned State Bank of India (SBI), claiming his role was only that of the counting room’s caretaker. Srivastava’s name had first appeared in public domain on June 23, 2026, as part of the preliminary report submitted by the SIT, which was the first probe panel constituted by the Adityanath government. The SIT comprised Vijay Vishwas Pant, Lucknow Division Commissioner as head along with Kiran S, Inspector General of Police (Lucknow Zone) and Neel Ratan, Special Secretary in the finance department of the UP government as its members.The SIT in its preliminary report while naming Subhash Srivastava as one of the accused, said:“Mr Subhash Srivastava, appointed by the Trust, was acting as the counting room in-charge. All incidents of theft/ embezzlement of funds occurred in the counting room itself. Failure to conduct regular searches is a major reason for the occurrence of theft/embezzlement. Therefore, as the counting room in-charge, he is primarily responsible for such incidents.” On June 25, 2026, Srivastava was subsequently named in an FIR filed at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station in Ayodhya based on a complaint by Krishna Mohan, a member of the trust. He, along with seven others, were charged with offences related to theft, embezzlement, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. Subhash Srivastva’s 2021 appointment letter. Photo: By arrangement.The 2021 appointment letter in the context of Srivastava’s incarceration is significant since the said document raises questions at the investigation by the Uttar Pradesh police which finally led to the arrest of Subhash Srivastava on June 26, 2026. The ongoing SIT probe has projected Srivastava along with seven others as prime suspects involved in the donation theft case. While questions have been raised on the opacity around the hiring process of the trust, Srivastava, a former banker by background, came across as a high-profile accused owing to his links with the RSS.During its ground reporting from Ayodhya, The Wire had gathered after speaking with Srivastava’s neighbours that the 70-year-old Nagar Karyvah (city in-charge) associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) used to organise a regular shakha (meeting) for the Sangh members at his house before joining the trust as a staffer in 2021. However, following his arrest, some disillusionment also seemed to have dawned on this long-time RSS worker, who, for the first time decided to go against those associated with the Ram Mandir.In his statement from jail, as told to the defence lawyer Kulshekhar Singh between July 2-3, 2026, Srivastava had named five trust employees and nine other bank employees who used to be present at the time of sorting of cash bundles.Srivastava’s appointment letter, in conjunction with his statement issued from jail, reaffirms that there were others at different hierarchical levels involved in the counting and sorting of donation money and that he may not have acted alone during the alleged embezzlement.No mention of the designation or role in appointment letterThe one-page appointment letter dated July 7, 2021, accessed by The Wire, signed by former general secretary of the Ram Mandir Trust, Champat Rai, stated: “Since the past several months, Mr Srivastava has also been present during the counting [process] from donation boxes. Do take his signatures in the register related to counting.” The letter was addressed to the branch manager at SBI’s Naya Ghat branch in Ayodhya. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed between SBI and the Trust in February 2024. The Naya Ghat branch of SBI had been entrusted with the responsibility of collecting donations, offerings including cash, cheques, and depositing them in the bank.While the appointment letter mentions Srivastava’s residential address in Ayodhya along with his Aadhaar number and other contact details, the document doesn’t specify whether the said recruitment was being done for the position of counting in-charge of the Trust. The letter was ambiguous not only about Srivastava’s designation but also didn’t elaborate much on his role in the counting process.Multiple news reports, both in English as well as Hindi, have referred to Subhash Srivastava as the counting in-charge or “कैश काउंटिंग प्रभारी.”But those close to his family are now refuting such claims suggesting he was holding a position of authority as ‘counting in-charge’.“As far as I know and also on the basis of appointment letter, he [Subhash Srivastava] was not working as गणना प्रभारी (or counting in-charge). This was a myth created by news channels days before the FIR was registered,” said a person close to the Srivastava family who didn’t want to be named. “His role was only that the donation boxes were opened in front of him [Subhash Srivastava]. Once the counting process followed by verification was done by the bank representatives, then he would take signatures of those persons in the ledger register and finally he would sign himself as well sending forward the amount collected to the bank as a depositor,” said the person close to the Srivastava family, while talking to The Wire. In his statement from jail, Subhash Srivastava had mentioned in detail about specific lapses in the counting and sorting processes including security protocol involving the SIS Limited security agency and lack of proper SoP with respect to who could access the keys of the donation box. The Wire reached out to former general secretary of the trust Champat Rai for a response, since his signatures appeared at the bottom of Srivastava’s appointment letter. When asked for a response regarding Srivastava’s exact designation as counting in-charge of the trust, Rai only said, ‘No comment’, and then disconnected the call.This reporter also contacted Investigating Officer (IO) and Ayodhya Circle Officer (CO) Ashutosh Tiwari for a response as to how the SIT was referring to Srivastava as the counting in-charge while his appointment letter does not say so clearly. While talking to The Wire, Tiwari said: “Whatever I have to say, I will put it before the court. Whatever action has been taken is based on evidence.”When asked whether there could be more persons involved in the alleged embezzlement apart from the accused Subhash Srivastava, Ayodhya CO and IO in this case Ashutosh Tiwari told The Wire, “I cannot share any details related to the investigation.”A photo of Subhash Srivastava, on a family member’s phone. Photo: Akanksha Kumar.Appointment recommended by former trustee Anil MishraAnother striking feature of Srivastava’s appointment letter is reference made to former trustee Anil Mishra who had resigned on June 27 amidst allegations of donation theft.Both Mishra and Champat Rai seemed to be at daggers drawn in July this year when Rai in a one-page submission before the SIT had claimed that he did not approve the guidelines issued in February 2025 for the cash counting process in the temple. The letter related to cash counting guidelines had been signed off by Anil Mishra, an RSS member.Local civil society members in Ayodhya whom The Wire had spoken with earlier had also maintained that a sudden upward turn in the trajectory of Mishra was particularly intriguing as he went on from practicing as a homeopathic doctor to an influential figure within the trust. All did seem to be well between the duo though when they were going ahead with appointments for the trust in 2021.Srivastava’s appointment letter, while stating that he was a retired professional and a worker of the trust, went on to state: “Dr Anil Mishra who is a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has requested him [referring to Subhash Srivastava] to be present at the designated spot during the counting process of donation boxes.”The Wire reached out to Anil Mishra for a response as well, but he said, “I’m in a meeting right now”, and then disconnected the call. Meanwhile, on September 22, 2026, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X had questioned the delay in filing the chargesheet in this case and asked whether it was an attempt to save the bigger fish. According to a report in the Indian Express, the SIT has submitted a 74,000 page chargesheet on September 23, 2026 at a local court in Ayodhya.Speaking to The Wire, Sharad Shukla, vice president of the Indian Youth Congress and an Ayodhya resident who had recently put up posters in Lucknow on 100 days of Ram Mandir donation theft, taking a dig at chief minister Adityanath, said, “No matter for which position hiring is being done, whether it’s a priest or even the CEO for that matter, as per the MoU [with the bank] every employee had been assigned a specific task. But in the case of Subhash Srivastava, there is no document I’m aware of which can tell us about the nature of his job.”“For a temple trust which is receiving lakhs of amount as donation money every month, such a letter which casually speaks only about someone being present during the process of counting does not clear the air on his [Srivastava] role”, Shukla further added. Board put up by Congress leader Sharad Shukla. Photo: By arrangement.Relief granted in the freezing of bank account caseOn September 8, 2026, a bench of the Special Judge of the Anti Corruption Court in Ayodhya passed an order unfreezing the pension account of Subhash Srivastava at the Canara Bank. As reported by The Wire earlier, a list of 45 transactions related to Srivastava’s pension account between January 31, 2025 and June 30, 2026 had been shared by defence lawyer Kulshekhar Singh with the court. The defence lawyer had also asked the IO to provide evidence which could establish links with monetary transactions in Srivastava’s pension account and funds related to the Ram Temple donation theft.“This is a huge relief since the family was dependent on that pension account for their day-to-day needs and EMIs,” the person who is close to the Srivastava family told this reporter. The case has taken a toll on the family. Srivastava’s wife has been suffering from depression and his son has quit cricket, as he is now caught up with the legal case. Srivastava himself had been dealing with health issues lately and complained of a urinary tract infection while in jail. Has this incident changed Subhash Srivastava’s religious beliefs or made him bitter towards the Sangh in any way?“He has been with the RSS for 56 years and also did some charity work during Covid, not sure why such a fate has befallen on him”, said the person close to Srivastava’s family. “Of course one can never be detached from god,” this person further added.