The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to register an FIR and take legal action in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Parakamani (donation box) theft case.
The CID and ACB have been asked to continue probing not only the theft and the suspect's assets but also the previous settlement at the Lok Adalat.
The agencies must share collected information among themselves and—if needed—with the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to support a thorough probe directed by the high court.
Taking cognisance of the suspicious death of the de facto complainant in the case, Y Satish Kumar, who worked with the TTD vigilance department at the time and whose dead body was found on November 14 beside a railway track in Anantpur district, the court directed the CID to submit the postmortem report in a sealed cover within three days.
The High Court has posted the next hearing for December 16.
The CID has already questioned the then TTD chairman and former YSRCP MLA B Karunakar Reddy, former TTD chairman and YSRCP MP YV Subba Reddy, and the then TTD executive officer AV Dharma Reddy.
The case dates back to April 29, 2023, when CV Ravi Kumar, an employee at a mutt affiliated with TTD, was allegedly caught stealing $900 from the Parakamani hall (the donation-counting centre of the temple). The theft case was initially registered at the local police station.
However, it was soon diverted to a "compromise" settlement through mediation at a Lok Adalat. Under this settlement, Ravi Kumar allegedly offered to donate seven properties (valued at around Rs 40 crore) to TTD in Tirupati and Chennai as "restitution."
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