Tirupati, Sep 21 Former chairman of TTD and YSRCP leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy on Sunday demanded CBI probe into the theft of the parakamani (donation box) of Tirumala temple, which he alleged, had been going on for last 20 years.
The former chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) alleged that Tiruamala is being used for political, commercial and vindictive politics by distorting facts.
Alleging that theft at Parakamani has been going on for the past 20 years, he said it was during Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP regime that the theft was detected. He also claimed that TTD staffer and accused Ravi Kumar and his family as an atonement had given back assets worth Rs 40 crore.
He was responding to TTD member and BJP leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy’s allegation that Ravi Kumar stole cash from the donation box. Reddy released CCTV footage to back his claim.
Prakash Reddy alleged that crores of rupees were invested in real estate using the looted money, and the illegal funds were allegedly diverted to Jagan Mohan Reddy's house, Tadepalli Palace. He also claimed that the Rs 100 crore theft was the ‘biggest such loot’ in TTD's history under the YSRCP regime.
However, Karunakar Reddy claimed that was YSRCP that has brought light the theft and the family had given back its assets. “The allegations that the assets were taken away by our people is fake and false and we demand a CBI inquiry into the entire episode to bring out the facts,” he said.
Stating that they do not trust the CB CID, whose biased functioning has been in open in liquor case and other cases, he said the CBI probe would bring out the truth.
The propaganda machinery of TDP has went overboard and started hurling allegation after allegation targeting YSRCP leadership unmindful of the fact that the theft which has been continuing for the past 20 years could not be traced by N. Chandrababu Naidu during his three terms as Chief Minister but was brought to light during our term, he said.
The former TTD chairman stated that God-fearing family of Ravi Kumar had voluntarily offered to give away the assets.
“If we had any malintention, immediately after the detecting the theft, we would have blamed Chandrababu Naidu and TDP for it but as we are sincere we had returned the assets surrendered by Ravi Kumar to the rightful owner, Lord Venkateswara,” he said.
Had this incident come to light during TDP term, the entire recovered property would have been taken away by Chandrababu and his coterie which shows the contrast between him and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The recent incident of a theft of gold biscuit was not exposed which shows the shallow nature of the government, he said.
Never in the history of TTD did anyone return the amount and it was done only YSRCP term and to blame our leaders and mudslinging by TTD chairman B.R. Naidu and minister Nara Lokesh is absurd and is only a false start and it will boomerang, Karunakar Reddy added.
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