New DelhiSeptember 24, 2025 09:05 AM IST
First published on: Sep 24, 2025 at 09:00 AM IST
A fresh controversy over the “theft” of donations from the parakamani (donation box) has rocked the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) that manages the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, just over a year after a row over the laddu distributed to devotees.
While the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which is in power in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the BJP and Pawan Kalyan’s JanaSena Party (JSP), has accused the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) of stealing “hundreds of crores” from the shrine, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party has termed the allegations “political vendetta” and urged the Centre to hand over the case to the CBI to ensure a “fair probe.” On Monday, the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged scam.
The case, which originally dates back to April 2023 when the YSRCP was in power, involves former TTD employee Ravi Kumar who was accused of stealing nine currency notes of $100 denomination from the parakamani. It gained fresh impetus on September 20 after Andhra IT minister and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh shared CCTV footage, purportedly of the incident, and blamed Jagan and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy of the YSRCP for the “Rs 100 crore theft”.
“Corruption reigned supreme during Jagan’s five-year rule… They did not even spare Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala. With the blessings of Karunakar Reddy, thieves infiltrated the parakamani and looted crores worth of property. This money was invested in real estate. Ravi Kumar stole hundreds of crores while Karunakar Reddy was the TTD chairman. His associates even tried to settle this case in a Lok Adalat… The parakamani videos have surfaced today. Tomorrow, the accused themselves are set to reveal the full account of YSRCP’s sins,” Lokesh wrote while sharing the footage.
The TTD, too, has weighed in, saying the case cannot be political as it concerns the faith of crores of devotees. “It is a case of procedural lapse on the part of the then TTD administration. Who authorised the TTD to settle the case in a Lok Adalat when the offences against Ravi Kumar are not compoundable? Top police officers and the YSRCP leadership have benefited from this theft,” TTD member and BJP leader G Bhanu Prakash Reddy told The Indian Express.
Offences related to Sections 379 and 381 of the IPC relate to cheating and can be compounded with permission from the court.
Questions about a ‘compromise’
Citing a July 25, 2024, letter from then TTD vigilance and security officer M Giridhar Rao, which has been accessed by The Indian Express, Bhanu Prakash Reddy alleged that the complainant in the case and then assistant vigilance and security officer Y Satish Kumar in the case reached a compromise as he was “under extreme pressure from the police”.
“It is not known as to why the police exerted pressure upon the TTD AVSO. However, Satish Kumar is one of the good officers with sound integrity, is hardworking, sincere and devoted towards TTD work,” read the letter.
On April 29, 2023, Satish Kumar caught Ravi Kumar red-handed while he was stealing from the parkikamana, following which a case was registered against Ravi Kumar under IPC Sections 379 and 381. A chargesheet in the case was filed before a Tirupati court on May 30, 2023. That September, a Lok Adalat disposed of the case after Satish Kumar and Ravi Kumar said they had reached a compromise “keeping the sensitivity of the matter” in mind.
On September 10 last year, a person named M Sreenivasulu filed a writ petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking a CID probe into the alleged parikamana scam. The court last week suspended the Lok Adalat’s order until further notice.
YSRCP’s Tirupati MP Madilla Gurumoorthy denied the allegations and called for the Centre to hand over the probe to the CBI. Claiming that the Andhra government was making unsubstantiated allegations despite the absence of credible evidence or due investigation, he said in a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, “What is presently unfolding in Andhra Pradesh represents a deliberate attempt to employ religion as an instrument of political vendetta. Such actions not only threaten public order but also weaken the trust of the people in democratic governance… Only an impartial and transparent inquiry by a central agency can establish the truth, put an end to politically motivated falsehoods, and restore the confidence of devotees.”