A special court in Ayodhya on Monday extended the judicial custody of all eight accused arrested in the alleged Ram temple donation theft case by another 14 days, till July 27. The accused were produced before the court through video conferencing from Faizabad district jail, where they are lodged. Special court judge Pratibha Narayan remanded all eight accused to continued judicial custody after the earlier remand period expired.Police outside the district jail in Ayodhya. (FILE PHOTO)The accused have been lodged in separate barracks inside Faizabad district jail as part of security arrangements.The eight arrested men include Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.Before the extension of judicial custody, Ayodhya police had taken four of the accused into police custody at different stages of the investigation. Investigators had interrogated Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey during separate periods of police custody remand to reconstruct the alleged diversion of devotees’ offerings, verify financial transactions and identify the roles of other accused.Police officials said information gathered during the custodial interrogation has been incorporated into the ongoing investigation, while documentary and electronic evidence recovered during the probe is also being examined.The prosecution had on Friday sought police remand of two accused -- Ram Shankar Yadav Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastav. The court will decide on the matter on Tuesday (July 14).According to the prosecution, statements made by the two during the probe have led to fresh leads, making their police custody necessary to verify facts and recover evidence linked to the alleged diversion of temple donations.Tinnu Yadav, a former driver of Champat Rai, was reportedly in charge of the keys of donation boxes, while Srivastava, a former bank employee, was involved in overseeing the donation-counting process.The police investigation is running parallel to the inquiry by the three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government. The SIT has been examining not only the alleged theft but also the standard operating procedures governing cash collection, counting, banking, surveillance systems, supervisory mechanisms and the role of agencies involved in handling donations.According to findings emerging during the investigation, CCTV footage allegedly captured multiple instances of cash pilferage inside the counting room over several weeks, while investigators also found alleged violations of prescribed operating procedures, including deficiencies in supervision and monitoring.Police have previously recovered cash, jewellery, and documents of properties purchased allegedly from stolen cash, as well as frozen several bank accounts linked to the accused and questioned multiple persons connected with the cash management system. During earlier police custody remands, investigators also attempted to trace the alleged flow of misappropriated funds and verify statements made by different accused.The SIT, whose scope was later expanded beyond the criminal case, has also scrutinised banking records, cash-handling protocols, outsourced staffing arrangements and other administrative processes related to the management of temple donations.Officials said both the criminal investigation and the SIT inquiry are continuing, with investigators examining additional evidence before filing further reports in the case.