Two-and-a-half years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand temple to Hindu god Ram, the shrine is embroiled in an unsavoury row over allegations that donations from devotees worth tens of millions of rupees have been embezzled.

The temple in the once-flashpoint city of Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh replaced a 16th-Century mosque torn down by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots in which nearly 2,000 people died.

Since its inauguration in January 2024, the three-storey temple spread over 2.7 acres has become one of India’s most important pilgrimage centres, attracting an estimated 50 million visitors annually.

But in recent weeks, questions over the handling of cash, valuable jewellery, gold and silver offered by devotees have triggered a political controversy and petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored investigation by the federal police.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust – an independent trust which manages the shrine – has denied any wrongdoing. The state government has set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into the allegations.

Following an interim report from SIT, Ayodhya police registered a case of alleged embezzlement on Thursday, naming eight people.

All eight are in custody and being questioned, senior police officer Gaurav Grover told BBC Hindi. They are expected to be produced before a magistrate within a day or two, he added.

The temple complex, which also includes six smaller shrines, draws 70,000 to 80,000 devotees daily, with crowds tripling on weekends and festivals. Most leave offerings in about 35 donation boxes around the site.

The trust – which collects, sorts and counts the offerings – recorded an annual income of 3.27bn rupees ($35m; £26m) in the financial year 2024-25, making it one of India’s largest temples in terms of earnings, the Hindustan Times reported.

A former city legislator has alleged more than 70m rupees ($739,550; £560,420) have gone missing.

The temple trust rejected claims that donations or offerings were improperly handled.

In a video statement on Facebook, its general secretary Champat Rai said the trust’s activities, including the process used to count donations and even the counting room, were routinely audited by their trustees and workers along with some State Bank of India employees.

“This work continues for several days. This is what is happening nowadays. No-one has noticed any discrepancy yet,” he added.

The allegations of embezzlement at what is considered one of India’s most consequential religious sites has made headlines in India. The temple stands on a site that has been at the centre of one of India’s most consequential religious, political and legal disputes for decades.

Many Hindus believe Ayodhya to be the birthplace of deity Ram. A vigorous nation-wide campaign spearheaded by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reclaim the land led to the demolition of the Babri mosque by Hindu activists in 1992.

Talking about the claims, Ajay Kumar Varma described Ayodhya as “god’s abode” and said such things should not happen here. “The people being blamed have been involved with the temple for a long time, so it’s hard to believe that they could do this,” he said.

BP Pandey called the allegations “a stain” on the government and the trust. “The government must ensure that there is no repeat of this sort of thing.”

Meanwhile, the SIT has sought more time to complete the inquiry. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged anyone with evidence to submit it to investigators. He said the inquiry would establish the facts and appealed to devotees not to prejudge the outcome.

Adityanath added that people who had waited centuries for the construction of the Ram temple could wait a few more days for the SIT to complete its work.

But there’s a growing clamour to hand over the investigation to the federal police as it’s a matter involving one of India’s most prominent religious institutions.

A number of petitions have been filed in the state high court and the Supreme Court asking for a police complaint to be registered and judges to supervise the investigation.

A top court lawyer has also written a letter to the prime minister, the state chief minister and chief justice, seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation “to restore the faith of the devotees”.

More than a year after the death of Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu, his family have won their appeal to have his body buried in South Africa where he died – overturning a high court ruling that allowed the Zambian government to repatriate the corpse.

Tuesday’s Supreme Court of Appeal judgement finally puts to rest the legal battle over what should happen to his remains following a long-standing feud between Lungu and his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema.

The Zambian government has said while it disagrees with the ruling it will “not be taking the matter any further”.

It had long argued that, as a former head of state, Lungu should be honoured in the country.

The Zambian government wished to see him laid to rest alongside his predecessors in the special presidential burial ground in the capital, Lusaka.

But Lungu’s family wanted a private burial after negotiations with the government over the funeral arrangements broke down.

“The very ritual intended to bring closure has, instead, pitted family against the state in a hard-fought legal dispute far from the protagonists’ home,” said Justice Raylene May Keightley in Tuesday’s judgement.

Last August, the South African high court in Pretoria ruled that Zambia’s govrnment could repatrite the body and give him a state funeral – an outcome that left Lungu’s relatives visibly distraught in the courtroom.

The family appealed against the decision but, in a surprise announcement in April Zambia’s government said Lungu’s remains had been “formally transferred” to the state by the South African court.

But just a few hours later, the same South African court ordered the Zambian government to return the body until the matter went to court again.

The former president died of an undisclosed illness aged 68 at a clinic in Pretoria. Chaos ensued following his death, with mourners receiving conflicting information from the government and Lungu’s political party,  the Patriotic Front (PF).

Two separate mourning periods were announced and at one point there were competing condolence books.

Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 until 2021, had numerous rows with Hichilema, who was the opposition leader for many years before finally unseating his bitter rival.

After Lungu’s death, his family said the ex-president did not want Hichilema to be at his funeral or “anywhere near” his body.

In this latest ruling at the Supreme Court of Appeal, the judges said it was clear that the former president “viewed himself to be persona non grata in his own country” of Zambia and “felt that he would not be afforded a dignified send-off” if his successor was present.

[BBC]