LUCKNOW, July 17 -- The investigation into the alleged misappropriation of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya has expanded to Basti district, where investigators are scrutinising the assets of a temple honorarium worker whose financial transactions and property acquisitions have come under the scanner.

According to officials familiar with the investigation, the probe has now reached a village in Basti's Paikolia police station area, where the worker's family resides. Investigation agencies are verifying immovable properties allegedly acquired in the names of the worker and several family members in recent years.

Preliminary inquiries suggest the worker was engaged on an honorarium basis at the Ram temple after its construction work ...