Tout nabbed in Tirumala

Tirupati: A tout was said to have been detained by the Tirumala police late on Sunday for allegedly fleecing devotees under the pretext of providing accommodation. The tout, identified as Durga Kiran, a resident of Tirupati, was caught offering accommodation at exorbitant prices to devotees at Tirumala.   

Sources said that Kiran was collecting twice the room rent to secure bookings in TTD cottages and rooms. He was found to be telling devotees to deposit money in his account to ensure accommodation. Once he received the money, he avoided their calls.

Kiran is said to be in cahoots with a TTD employees working at the reception counters from whom he used to obtain accommodation on different names. It was learnt that he paid commission to the TTD employees.

Sources said that Kiran was suspected to have been running the racked for some time now and had established connections with local travel agencies and some employees of the TTD.