Senior Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust functionary Champat Rai has told his close associates that his "service in Ayodhya is complete" and that he will not continue with the "stigma" in the wake of the donation embezzlement controversy, sources told PTI on Thursday.

According to the sources, Rai, who is currently in seclusion, also said that his trust has been "betrayed". However, he did not specify.

Sources said the future of Rai and Trust member Anil Mishra, who have both resigned from their posts, is likely to be decided by a two-thirds majority at a meeting of Trust scheduled to be held here on July 6.

The meeting is also expected to deliberate on key issues concerning the Trust management particularly in light of the recommendations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government last month.

Rai, had recently offered to resign, taking "moral responsibility".

Police have already recorded Champat Rai's statement as part of the investigation and are also examining the role of nearly 400 private security personnel deployed at the temple complex.

The controversy began on June 7 after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged embezzlement of Ram Temple donations, an allegation initially rejected by the Trust.

The Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 13, whose preliminary findings led to an FIR on June 25 and the arrest of eight persons associated with the donation-counting process, including Avinash, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav.

Police have said nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash and foreign currency were recovered during the investigation, while the SIT found that Tinnu Yadav, a former driver of Champat Rai, possessed keys to multiple donation boxes in violation of prescribed procedures.

People close to Champat Rai said he admitted that Tinnu Yadav is the key figure behind the entire scam. "Tinnu Yadav took advantage of his trust to carry out the fraud," Rai has told people close to him. According to Rai, when Yadav was about to get caught, he leaked information to a Samajwadi leader, sources said.

The investigation has since widened, with police scrutinising CCTV footage, duty rosters and security protocols to determine whether standard operating procedures governing temple donations were violated.

Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded that the SIT report be made public, accusing the BJP government of shielding those responsible, while chief minister Yogi Adityanath has accused the Opposition of exploiting the issue for political gain.