Claim
Trust insiders suspected the offering theft as early as January, after a chartered accountant's monthly audit flagged a sudden drop in offerings and mismatched vouchers; the trust wrote to general secretary Champat Rai suggesting corrective steps, but he took offence and no system was put in place from January to May.
“पता लगा कि ट्रस्ट के लोगों को छह महीने पहले जनवरी में ही चढ़ावे में चोरी का शक हो गया था। सीए के बताने के बाद ट्रस्ट की तरफ से महासचिव चंपत राय को एक चिट्ठी लिखी गई। लेकिन यह लेटर मिलने के बाद चंपत राय बुरा मान गए।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
Contemporary reporting around the broadcast date corroborates each element of the claim: a January monthly audit by the trust's CA flagged a sudden drop in offerings, unreconciled expenses above Rs 5 lakh and voucher-receipt mismatches; the trust wrote (letter plus WhatsApp) to general secretary Champat Rai suggesting corrective steps; and per sources Rai took offence, so no corrective system was implemented from January to May. No fact-checker (AltNews, BOOM, Factly, Newschecker, PIB) had contested this as of 2026-07-01, and the SIT's findings of administrative lapses are consistent with it. Confidence is moderate rather than high because the specific January-letter narrative traces to unnamed sources and the most detailed account is from India TV, the anchor's own network, with other outlets largely echoing it.
Evidence
- https://www.indiatvnews.com/uttar-pradesh/ram-temple-donation-theft-probe-reveals-varanasi-link-outsourcing-agency-hiring-process-under-scanner-2026-07-02-1046869 Reports that during the routine monthly audit the chartered accountant flagged a sudden decline in collections despite steady footfall and voucher-receipt mismatches; the trust sent a letter and WhatsApp messages to Champat Rai recommending corrective measures; sources say Rai expressed displeasure and no major corrective steps were implemented between January and May. Matches the claim, but this is Rajat Sharma's own network. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://spashtawaz.com/%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6/varanasi-link-emerges-in-ram-mandir-donation-theft-case-outsourcing-and-hiring-process-under-investigation-2026-07-02/ Hindi report carrying the same account: January suspicion via CA's monthly audit (unreconciled expenses over Rs 5 lakh, voucher mismatches), letter/WhatsApp to Champat Rai with suggested checks, Rai's displeasure, and no major improvement from January to May. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/fpj-exclusive-sit-finds-management-failures-administrative-lapses-in-ram-temple-trust-probe-no-clean-chit-to-officials SIT probe found management failures and administrative lapses at the trust with no clean chit to officials including Champat Rai — consistent with the broader narrative of ignored internal warnings, though it does not itself mention the January letter. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.theindiadaily.com/state/uttar-pradesh/sit-names-17-in-ayodhya-ram-temple-donation-probe-firs-likely-news-125128 SIT report deems 17 trust-linked people's roles suspect, including general secretary Champat Rai, in the offerings theft case — establishing the underlying scandal and Rai's centrality. ✓ reachable · archived