SIT Probes Varanasi Outsourcing Agency Connections in Ram Temple Donation Theft Case

Ayodhya :The ongoing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the multi-lakh donation theft at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple has turned its focus toward a Varanasi-based outsourcing vendor. Investigations revealed that six of the eight individuals arrested for allegedly siphoning off temple offerings were contract employees on the payroll of Sainik Security Services, a private manpower firm headquartered in Varanasi.

 The State Bank of India (SBI), which manages the accounts for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, had engaged the agency to supply personnel for the massive cash-counting operations at the shrine. However, the revelation has placed the entire recruitment process under intense scanner.

investigators are probing whether standard background checks and vetting protocols were bypassed during their induction.  Gaurav Singh, director of Sainik Security Services, clarified that the firm merely operated as a second vendor providing staff to the local SBI branch in Ayodhya.

He stated that the agency recruited the personnel based on explicit instructions and names forwarded by the bank's local management. "We were contracted to provide housekeeping staff. What specific duties or access the bank subsequently assigned to them inside the temple was entirely under the bank's purview," Singh explained.  

The SIT's preliminary findings point to a systematic diversion of cash offerings before they could be officially deposited. So far, law enforcement has successfully recovered nearly ₹80 lakh in cash, along with quantities of foreign currency, gold, and silver, directly from the possession of the accused.

 Furthermore, investigators are scrutinizing reports that certain trust officials allegedly resisted initial recommendations by bank authorities to change the cash-sorting staff when minor irregularities first surfaced months ago.

The SIT is now auditing the strictness of standard operating procedures, including the mandatory use of pocketless uniforms, mandatory frisking, and the preservation of continuous CCTV records during the counting sessions.