The Congress on Thursday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations made to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader KC Venugopal said the allegations had caused “deep anguish and outrage” among millions of Indians.He also alleged that a preliminary investigation indicated that the fraud was not the work of “few rogue employees” but was “orchestrated with the complicity of higher-ups instead”.Further, Venugopal questioned the probe by the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh on June 13. He said the SIT and the first information filed in the matter on June 25 were an “eyewash”.“A state-appointed SIT is neither equipped nor institutionally independent to investigate individuals wielding immense political institutional influence,” the Congress leader said in his letter.He added that there was “growing apprehension” that the probe was a means to “erase the remaining evidence while shielding the ‘big fish’ who allegedly orchestrated this multi-crore embezzlement”.On June 23, the SIT submitted its preliminary report to the Uttar Pradesh government. The contents of the report have not been made public.However, unidentified persons aware of its contents told The Indian Express that the report highlighted alleged lapses, inadequate supervision and negligence in the handling, maintenance and counting of donated cash and valuables.The SIT is expected to submit a final report next week.On June 25, an FIR was filed against eight persons based on a complaint by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple. All eight accused have been arrested.A day later, the trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, and trustee Anil Mishra resigned from their posts on “moral grounds” amid the controversy.In his letter on Thursday, Venugopal noted that the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, constituted by the Union government in 2020, is a public trust and should be “held to the highest standards of probity, transparency and accountability”.“It is therefore the moral responsibility of the government and of you as its head to restore the faith of over 1.4 billion Indians in the government’s intent and ability to safeguard donations and preserve the sanctity of an institution established in the name of the Lord Ram,” the Congress leader said in his letter.The Ram temple in Ayodhya was built on the site of the Babri Masjid, which was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born.In 2019, the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque was illegal but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be built.The Ram temple was inaugurated in a ceremony led by Modi in January 2024.Written by Tanya Shrivastava. Edited by Sara Varghese.Also read:An SBI manager questioned in Ayodhya ‘theft’ case was a tenant of Ram temple trusteeThe RSS man at the centre of Ram temple trust’s controversial run in AyodhyaIn Ayodhya, it’s Sangh Parivar vs Sangh Parivar as Ram temple fund ‘theft’ charges blow up