Claim
According to the police report, a large portion of the stolen donation money was squandered during the Mahakumbh.
“पुलिस रिपोर्ट के अनुसार चोरी की गई इस बड़ी रकम का एक बड़ा हिस्सा महाकुंभ के दौरान उड़ाया गया।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The claim refers to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir donation theft case (~Rs 7.5 crore). As of the 2026-07-02 broadcast, police/SIT sources widely reported that the largest share of the stolen donations was siphoned off during the Mahakumbh Mela, when offerings surged and the accused exploited the rush. The original Hindi 'उड़ाया गया' (made off with/stolen) matches this police finding, so the anchor's statement tracks contemporaneous police-attributed reporting. Minor caveats: the finding is attributed to police sources/SIT rather than a formally published police report, and no independent fact-checker (AltNews, BOOM, Newschecker) had assessed it — hence confidence below 0.8.
Evidence
- https://www.indiatvnews.com/uttar-pradesh/when-did-the-ram-temple-see-the-maximum-donation-thefts-here-what-sources-reveal-latest-updates-2026-07-01-1046738 India TV (2026-07-01, day before broadcast): police sources said the maximum number of Ram Temple donation thefts took place during the Mahakumbh Mela, when offerings sharply rose; accused exploited the surge and committed the largest share of thefts then. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.tv9hindi.com/india/ram-mandir-donation-case-biggest-theft-during-mahakumbh-ed-to-investigate-now-3836984.html TV9 Hindi reports the biggest theft in the Ram Mandir donation case occurred during Mahakumbh, per the police/SIT probe; ED also being brought in. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.etvbharat.com/en/bharat/eight-accused-in-ram-temple-donation-theft-case-sent-to-14-day-judicial-custody-enn26062905441 ETV Bharat: eight accused in the ~Rs 7.5 crore Ram Temple donation embezzlement case sent to judicial custody; UP SIT probing, ~Rs 80 lakh recovered — establishes the underlying case is real. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.aajtak.in/uttar-pradesh/story/ayodhya-ram-mandir-donation-scam-case-recovery-report-ntc-mkg-rpti-2591881-2026-07-01 AajTak (2026-07-01) recovery report from the accused in the Ayodhya Ram Mandir donation theft case, corroborating the police investigation timeline. ✓ reachable · archived