Parakamani theft case: SIT submits report to Andhra Pradesh HC

Amaravati, Dec 2 The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the Parakamani theft case at Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, Tirumala, submitted its report to the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday.

Additional Director General, Crime Investigation Department (CID), Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, who headed the SIT, submitted the report in a sealed cover.

The High Court will conduct a further hearing in the case on Friday.

The CID had launched the probe after the High Court issued orders on a petition challenging the closure of the Parakamani theft case in the Lok Adalat.

Ravi Kumar, an employee of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), was caught while stealing $920 from Parakamani (coins and currency notes counting centre) in April 2023.

The theft case registered at the Tirumala police station was transferred to the Lok Adalat, where a compromise settlement formula was reached in September 2023 after Ravi Kumar volunteered to donate seven properties worth Rs 40 crore, all of them located in Tirupati and Chennai, in the name of the TTD.

A petition was filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court alleging that there was no investigation into the theft case as the then-governing board of the TTD had closed the case after a settlement in the Lok Adalat. Petitioner Macherla Sreenivas sought an investigation into the closure of the case.

The SIT, which launched the investigation in October, questioned former TTD Chairpersons B. Karunakar Reddy and Y.V. Subba Reddy, former TTD executive officer Dharma Reddy, and several other TTD and police officials.

Former TTD Chairman and YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader Y. V. Subba Reddy appeared before the SIT on November 28.

Subba Reddy was the TTD Chairman when Ravi Kumar gifted seven properties to the temple after the theft case was settled in the Lok Adalat.

Former TTD Chairman and former MLA Karunakar Reddy had appeared before the SIT on November 25. He was the TTD Chairman when the theft case was registered.

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