The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages Ayodhya’s Ram temple, accepted the resignations of its general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra at a meeting in Ayodhya on Monday. The two had quit following a probe into the alleged embezzlement of temple donations.
After its three-hour meeting in Ayodhya, the temple Trust’s treasurer Govind Giri announced that the Trust has appointed Krishna Mohan as its interim general secretary. He said a three-member committee has been set up to select a chief executive officer. Giri defended Rai, saying he “is untainted in my eyes”. Instead, he blamed people “showing sudden love for Sanatan”, who, he said, “want to divide Hindus”.
Krishna Mohan, 74, is a retired Indian Forest Service officer and has been a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office- bearer. Mohan was appointed a trustee in September after the death of trustee and founding member Kamleshwar Chaupal.
In his first comments to the media, Mohan said the Trust’s image has taken a hit because of the allegations of donation theft, and that all trustees will work to restore the confidence of devotees and manage donations according to the temple Trust’s objectives. Mohan vowed to punish those found guilty. Mohan hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi and has been the RSS’s kshetra sanghchalak, or regional chief, for eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The Trust will meet again on July 22. Its meeting on Monday afternoon, held at the guest house inside the Ram Janmabhoomi temple complex in Ayodhya, was attended by seven of the nine permanent members, including Trust chairman Nritya Gopal Das. Rai and Mishra were absent.
The move follows public outrage over the alleged donation theft from the Ayodhya Ram temple. The Trust said it has received ₹3,264 crore in donations, of which a sum of ₹2,370 crore was spent on the construction of the temple and other works.
It said that it had received ₹582 crore in offerings from devotees until March 31, 2026, of which ₹391 crore has been spent on the functioning of the Trust and related expenses, while the rest is in its bank account. Apart from cash offerings, devotees have also given 2,926 items in kind, and a record is being maintained of these offerings. It said devotees can access details of these offerings from any Trust official in Ayodhya. The Trust also exhibited five pieces of precious metals and jewellery that were earlier claimed to have been stolen.
A special investigation team, constituted on June 13 to probe the alleged theft of Ram Temple donations, submitted its preliminary report to the state government on June 23, which formed the basis of an FIR and the arrest of eight named people. Investigators have also recovered deleted CCTV footage that allegedly shows the accused concealing currency notes while taking them out of the temple premises. While no FIR has been registered against Rai, Mishra, and special invitee Gopal Rao, the Ayodhya lawyers of the Faizabad Bar Association have submitted a written police complaint seeking registration of a case against them.
The Congress and other opposition parties have launched campaigns to highlight the alleged theft.
The three-member panel comprises retired judge Pramod Kohli, retired Lieutenant General Vishnukant Chaturvedi and trustee Suresh Haware.
Giri said Rai had stepped down voluntarily, saying he felt it was not appropriate to continue as general secretary until the investigation was completed and that those responsible were brought to justice. On Rai and Mishra’s resignation, he said the Trust had no discretion in the matter as senior trustee K Parasaran had pointed out that a resignation takes effect once submitted under the Trust’s constitution, leaving the Trust with no option but to accept it.
