The Ayodhya police have sought the seven days’ police custody remand (PCR) of Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and his nephew, Manish Yadav, in the alleged Ram temple donation theft case, marking the concluding phase of custodial interrogation in one of the state’s most high-profile criminal investigations.Ram Shankar ‘Tinnu’ Yadav after his arrest in Ayodhya on June 26. (FILE PHOTO)Investigators have moved the special court seeking custody of the uncle-nephew duo, who are the only remaining accused yet to be questioned in police custody. The development comes after the police completed custodial interrogation of six other co-accused in separate phases between July 3 and 15.Sources said the investigators intend to confront the two accused with statements made by the other arrested persons, financial records, electronic evidence and documents recovered during the investigation. The interrogation is also expected to focus on the alleged diversion of stolen cash, the role of individual accused in the cash-counting process and the suspected investment of the proceeds in movable and immovable assets.The case pertains to the alleged theft of cash donations from the strong room of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Eight persons, most of them associated with the temple’s cash-counting process through outsourced agencies, have been arrested in the case.During earlier rounds of police custody, investigators questioned the six co-accused extensively and recovered cash, gold ornaments, vehicles allegedly purchased using the misappropriated money, and documents relating to investments and other assets. The police have also frozen several bank accounts linked to the accused and their family members as part of the financial investigation.Officials said obtaining custody of Ram Shankar Yadav and Manish Yadav is considered crucial for reconstructing the alleged conspiracy, verifying the money trail and corroborating evidence gathered during previous interrogations.The proposed custody remand is expected to be the final one before the police complete the remaining investigation and move towards filing the charge sheet in the case, while the parallel government-constituted SIT continues examining administrative lapses, security failures and supervisory accountability in the temple’s donation management system.Earlier on Wednesday, retired bank employee Subhash Chandra Srivastava, who supervised the temple’s cash-counting operation, and Ramashankar Mishra, who transported sealed donation boxes from the temple to the counting centre, were questioned during 14 hours of police custody remand. Investigators confronted the duo with statements made by co-accused during earlier rounds of custodial interrogation and questioned them about the movement of donation cash, the alleged siphoning of funds and their individual roles in the suspected embezzlement.The exercise also focused on reconstructing the alleged conspiracy and verifying the chain of custody of temple donations. Wednesday’s questioning followed the earlier custodial interrogation of co-accused Avinash Shukla during 24 hours custody remand on July 3, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey during 40 hours custody remand on July 8 and 9, which investigators said resulted in the recovery of two SUVs allegedly purchased with misappropriated donations, besides cash, gold ornaments and investment-related documents.