TTD hundi worker caught with US dollars

TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ vigilance and security wing has caught a contract employee who allegedly committed theft of a bundle of US currency notes at the new Parakamani building in Tirumala. The theft was done while the counting of money offered in Srivari Hundi by devotees was  underway.

The contract employee, arrested by the Tirumala I town police, was CV Ravi Kumar. He was working as a clerk at the Pedda Jeeyar Mutt in Tirumala. Ravi was deputed to the Parakamani counting centre near the Ram Bhagicha guest house for this specific work, sources said.

‘Parakamani’, the exercise of counting the offering in the hundi, is being carried out at the new Parakamani building that is equipped with high-tech facilities for counting coins and currencies and it has strong rooms. Besides CCTV surveillance, automatic segregation machines, machines for packing coins in sachets and other amenities are present there.

Several contract employees were involved in the process of segregating cash and ornaments and counting the currency notes. “On CCTV, a contract employee was seen going out of the Parakamani premises with some US dollars. The vigilance and security wing officers detained him with 900 US currency notes, together valued at Rs.73,570. The vigilance wing lodged a complaint at the I town police station and handed over the employee to them.