Hyderabad: Saikam Anjana Reddy, the executive officer of the Peddamma Devalayam Temple, Jubilee Hills, was nabbed red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a suspended priest.
The accused Anjana Reddy, a representative of Telangana’s endowment department, was apprehended by the ACB sleuths on Tuesday while accepting the first installment of Rs 1 lakh from the complainant Prayaga Anjaneyulu Sharma as a fee to re-appoint him as an Archak in the temple.
The facts of the case are, the complainant Anjaneyulu, a priest, had served at the Peddamma Devalayam temple in Jubilee Hills for over 15 years. However, in the year 2017, he was suspended by the temple authorities for misappropriation of temple funds. In 2018, the Telangana government announced that the Hindu priests in the state would be paid at par with government employees while the ‘imams’ and muezzins at mosques will be paid Rs 5,000 each.
To this effect, Telangana’s Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had announced that the salaries would be paid from the treasury with effect from September 1.
Under this scheme, the Archakas that conduct prayers at Hindu temples and come under the Endowment Department purview are eligible. As a result, the suspended priest Prayaga Anjaneyulu Sharma became eligible for a monthly salary. However, he needs to be re-appointed as an Archaka in order to claim it.
Concurrently, however, although the priest Anjaneyulu had been suspended, the government continued to release his salary. Taking advantage of the situation, Saikam Anjana Reddy kept pocket the payments, thereby keeping the suspended priest in the dark.
A few months ago, the priest approached Saikam Anjana Reddy and requested him to lift the suspension. The application was submitted before Telangana’s endowment department. However, in return, the accused demanded a total of Rs 5.25 lakh as bribe. The priest then approached the ACB. Subsequently, the sleuths laid a trap and nabbed the accused red-handed in the act.
