Claim
Champat Rai suspects that Tinnu Yadav himself leaked the news of the donation-box theft to Samajwadi Party MLA Pawan Pandey and had him claim a theft of ₹7-8 crore.
“चंपत राय को तो यह भी शक है कि टिन्नू यादव ने ही दान पात्र में चोरी की खबर समाजवादी पार्टी के एमएलए पवन पांडे को लीक की थी। उसने ही पवन पांडे से कहलवाया था कि 7 8 करोड़ की चोरी हुई है।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The claim is an attribution of a suspicion, and it checks out. Independent sources-based reporting (APN Live, July 2, 2026) confirms Champat Rai told investigators he believes his former aide Tinnu Yadav leaked the theft information to a Samajwadi Party leader once exposure seemed imminent, matching the anchor's statement. Pawan Pandey did publicly claim a theft of about ₹7–7.5 crore (anchor said ₹7–8 crore, a close approximation), and Tinnu Yadav is a named FIR accused and former Rai aide. Confidence is moderate rather than high because Rai's suspicion is reported via unnamed sources, not an on-record statement, and the specific 'had him claim it' framing (कहलवाया) slightly extends what sources reported; no dedicated fact-checker (AltNews, BOOM, Factly, Newschecker, PIB) coverage contradicting it was found as of the broadcast date.
Evidence
- https://apnlive.com/india-news/ram-temple-donation-theft-champat-rai-tinnu-yadav-sources/ APN Live (July 2, 2026), citing sources on Champat Rai's questioning: 'Rai believes Yadav leaked information to a Samajwadi Party leader when he sensed that the alleged wrongdoing was about to be exposed' — independent corroboration that Rai holds the suspicion the anchor described. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/opinion-ram-mandir-hiding-theft-is-also-a-crime-aaj-ki-baat-with-rajat-sharma-2026-07-02-1046920 Rajat Sharma's own written Aaj Ki Baat column of the same broadcast states 'Champat Rai suspects it was Tinnu Yadav who leaked news about the discovery of theft to Samajwadi Party MLA Pawan Pandey', confirming the on-air quote is faithfully rendered. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.thestatesman.com/india/ram-temple-donation-theft-fir-lodged-against-8-champat-rai-aide-tinnu-yadav-among-accused-1503610076.html Confirms the underlying facts: former SP MLA Pawan Pandey publicly alleged misappropriation of roughly ₹7–7.5 crore from Ram Mandir donations, and Tinnu (Ramashankar) Yadav, a close aide/former driver of Champat Rai, is among the eight named in the FIR. ✗ unreachable · HTTP 403
- https://www.aajtak.in/uttar-pradesh/story/sp-leader-pawan-pandey-claims-akhilesh-yadav-first-knew-about-ram-mandir-donation-theft-ntc-dpmx-rpti-2589511-2026-06-28 Aaj Tak coverage of Pawan Pandey's own account of how he came to know of and publicize the donation-theft allegation, consistent with an insider tip-off narrative. ✓ reachable · archived