Overview
- The Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team made its interim report public and said donation handling showed weak oversight, insecure cash counting, flawed frisking rules and inadequate CCTV, and eight counting‑room staff have been arrested in a criminal probe.
- Two founding trustees, Champat Rai and Anil Mishra, resigned saying they took moral responsibility while the trust has set up an internal high‑level review to recommend corrective measures.
- On Saturday, July 11, the Congress stepped up a nationwide campaign demanding a Supreme Court‑monitored judicial inquiry, a forensic audit of all donations and the dissolution and reconstitution of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
- Opposition leaders and some reports say CCTV footage may have been erased and warnings by security staff were ignored, allegations that critics say point to a possible cover‑up rather than isolated thefts by low‑level employees.
- The trust’s legal status as an autonomous private body, supported by MHA and CIC rulings, limits routine public oversight and has sharpened debate over whether courts or a forensic audit should be used to secure accounts and donor confidence.