New Delhi: The special investigation team investigating the misappropriation of donations to the Ram Temple is likely to question members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya, as more reports shed light on aspects of the alleged embezzlement of funds.The Telegraph, quoting unnamed sources, noted that the investigation will now widen to scrutinise financial transactions, security lapses and the assets of the accused.The SIT is headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant was set up on June 13 and submitted a preliminary report to the state government on June 23. The investigation prima facie said that responsibility for the theft at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya lies with the counting staff, but some of those supervising them are also held to account.Kar sevak who filed police complaint questioned by SITMeanwhile, the former Kar Sevak Santosh Dubey, who was one of the complainants who had submitted a complaint at Ram Janmabhoomi police station asking for a first information report to be submitted was summoned by the SIT last night. Dubey told the news agency IANS that his statement was recorded.“I shared all the information I had…from the disappearance of around 1,200 to 1,250 Ram Shilas to all the developments that have taken place since then. I explained everything in detail and expressed my expectation that appropriate action should be taken. We want action. We are ready to extend any cooperation they require from us, but action must be taken,” Dubey was quoted as having said.The Bharatiya Janata Party’s legal cell has pushed for journalists and politicians from opposing parties to be slapped with notices and made a part of the investigation.Former IPS officer asks for complete accountingFormer Indian Police Service officer Amitabh Thakur, who is now national president of the political party Azad Adhikar Sena, has sought an independent accounting of donation records, counting sheets, bank deposit records, books of accounts and registers of valuable articles to determine whether the entire donation corpus is fully accounted for.In his letter to the chairman and general secretary of the trust, he said that the recent developments concerning alleged irregularities in donations raise an important question as to how it can be ensured that the “detected matter was the first, last and only such instance.”Thakur has requested the Trust to complete the exercise within 15 days and to publicly issue a brief “Donor Assurance Certificate” based on its findings, to protect the confidence of devotees and donors.‘Dissolve trust, set up independent SIT,’ says Hindu MahasabhaDainik Bhaskar reports that the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district has submitted a three-point memorandum addressed to the President of India which covers, among other issues, their demand for an independent special investigation team.The memorandum was delivered to the District Magistrate at the Collectorate premises today by a group led by Manoj Trivedi, the organisation’s senior vice-president and in-charge of the Kashi region.The group also demanded that an investigation be conducted under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge to ensure impartiality.Crucially, the Mahasabha has demanded the dissolution of the existing trust and the formation of a new on with seers, Shankaracharyas and prominent religious leaders of Ayodhya, the report says.‘Associated Ram Lalla temple with Vishwaguru, theft a tight slap to that’: Singer Anuradha PaudwalMeanwhile, noted bhajan singer Anuradha Paudwal has referred to the alleged theft of funds in the Ram temple and said that till few years back, she thought India would become ‘Vishwaguru’ but at present things are happening which contradict this idea. Speaking with journalist Shubhankar Mishra in his podcast, Paudwal said that the news of the alleged theft was “shocking.”“The place of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya is a pilgrimage for entire Hindustan. This was special because we waited 500 years for this. For a long time I was pained to see whatever happened there. I was associating the temple of Ram Lalla with India becoming Vishwaguru. But when this (theft) happened it was like a tight slap. Because that (Vishwaguru) was associated with this (temple),” said Paudwal.Accused had control of donation box: ReportA report on Dainik Jagran has it that the theft of donations “began early last year, following the surge in devotees”.The report pins this supposition to the fact that Anukalp Mishra, a key accused, joined the temple’s management before the consecration ceremony on January 22, 2024.The report also says that the accused in the case had control of the donation box.It says that although the State Bank of India had the authority to hire people for cash management, it did not have the required manpower immediately available for this work, and thus it was that on the suggestion of officials of the Trust, a pick of volunteers associated with the Ram Temple were given cash management work.The FIR which was registered on the basis of the SIT’s preliminary report names, along with Anukul Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, and Ramashankar Mishra. Their alleged offences include, according to the FIR, “theft of gifts/offering money, embezzlement, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, possession/receipt of stolen property, common intention, criminal conspiracy, abetment, and other relevant offences.”