LUCKNOW, June 28 -- The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of donations from the Ram temple has zeroed in on what officials describe as a pattern of administrative and security lapses that may have enabled the alleged embezzlement of cash over a prolonged period. At the centre of the expanding investigation is a police wireless and telecom officer whose nearly 17-year posting in Ayodhya and alleged role beyond his official responsibility have come under intense scrutiny. According to officials familiar with the investigation, the inspector-rank officer, inducted as a Radio Maintenance Officer (RMO) through the 2006 recruitment, spent nearly 17 years of his roughly 20-year service at Ayodhya despite repeated transfer orders issued by the Police Wireless and Telecom Headquarters. The SIT is examining how those transfers were repeatedly stalled or withdrawn and whether administrative intervention or external influence enabled his continued posting at one of the country's most sensitive religious establishments. The official responsibility of the officer was limited to maintaining the temple's CCTV surveillance network and wireless communication systems. However, the SIT's preliminary findings suggest he allegedly exercised influence well beyond that role by intervening in administrative and operational matters inside the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple complex, including facilitating VVIP darshan arrangements and participating in issues unrelated to his designated work. Investigators suspect the alleged administrative overreach may have weakened institutional checks and security protocols, creating vulnerabilities that were allegedly exploited in the diversion of devotees' offerings. The probe has also highlighted significant shortcomings in the temple's surveillance system. Officials said CCTV recordings were preserved for only 45 days, limiting investigators' ability to determine whether the alleged theft was an isolated incident or part of a longer-running operation. "The available surveillance footage covers only the last 45 days. If similar thefts occurred earlier, there is no CCTV record available to verify them," an official associated with the investigation said. With no archived footage beyond the retention period, investigators are reconstructing the alleged conspiracy through financial records, digital evidence, CCTV available within the retention period, statements, attendance registers, duty rosters and cash reconciliation records. The SIT's preliminary findings have also pointed to multiple systemic deficiencies, including alleged violations of standard operating procedures, inadequate frisking of personnel involved in donation counting, weak supervision, deficiencies in CCTV monitoring and lapses in reconciliation of cash deposited in banks. Investigators are examining whether these weaknesses were merely administrative failures or were deliberately exploited as part of an organised conspiracy to siphon off devotees' donations. Officials said the inquiry has also examined the wireless officer's alleged proximity to influential functionaries associated with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to determine whether those associations had any bearing on his prolonged tenure or reported involvement in internal temple affairs. However, investigators stressed that no evidence has so far emerged implicating any trust office bearer in wrongdoing. The criminal investigation is simultaneously gathering evidence against the wireless officer and the eight arrested accused, including key accused Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu, considered a close aide of Champat Rai, who has resigned as the trust's general secretary. The other accused are Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ramashankar Mishra and retired bank supervisor Subhash Srivastava, who supervised donation counting operations. Police have already recovered Rs.79.85 lakh from seven of the eight accused and are preparing to seek their custodial remand to trace the remaining money, identify additional conspirators and establish the complete money trail. Investigation teams are continuing searches and examining financial transactions, digital devices and communication records to identify beneficiaries of the alleged diversion. Officials said the probe has now entered a broader phase, with more than 100 persons, including temple employees, security personnel, donation counting staff, bank officials and contractual workers, likely to be questioned. At any given time, six to seven persons are being examined simultaneously by different investigation teams as police attempt to piece together the chain of events behind one of the most sensitive financial fraud cases linked to the Ram Temple. Senior officials said accountability is being examined for both the alleged criminal conspiracy and the administrative and security failures that allowed it to occur....