Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has given a 15-day extension to the Special Investigation Team probing allegations of embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said Wednesday.
The tenure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been extended to probe the matter deeply and widen the scope of the probe, they said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has extended the deadline until July 15 for the SIT probing the donation-related case in Ayodhya. The SIT had sought additional time from the Chief Minister to conduct a comprehensive examination of the various aspects of the case. Accepting the request, he directed the SIT to submit its report by July 15, an official statement issued here said.
The three-member SIT was constituted June 13 to probe the allegations and was initially given 15 days to probe the allegations.
Following the submission of the preliminary SIT report June 23, an FIR was registered June 25 and eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested.
The SIT comprises Vijay Vishwas Pant, IAS, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow; Kiran S, IPS, Inspector General of Police; and Neel Ratan, Special Secretary, Finance Department.
