Tirumala temple deputy executive officer M Lokanadham arrested in disproportionate assets case

TIRUPATI: Tirumala temple deputy executive officer M Lokanadham was arrested by Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths in connection with a disproportionate assets case registered against him on Thursday.It may be recalled that ACB teams conducted raids at Lokanadham’s residence and multiple locations linked to him and unearthed movable and immovable properties, including 2 kg of gold, 6.5 kg of silver and Rs 12.5 lakh cash, all worth approximately Rs 5 crore and disproportionate to his known sources of income, on Wednesday.ACB sleuths continued their searches for the second consecutive day on Thursday before formally taking the Tirumala temple deputy EO into custody to produce him before the ACB court at Nellore and subsequently send him to judicial remand.The timing of Lokanadham’s arrest has come as a big jolt to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams as the Tirupati trust finds itself less than two weeks away from the Srivari annual Brahmotsavams, slated to get underway at Tirumala from Sept 15.The Tirupati trust reportedly went into a huddle to quickly find a suitable replacement within the organisation to be appointed as the Tirumala temple deputy EO, as this is a crucial post linked to the smooth functioning of the day-to-day religious rituals held at the Tirumala temple as well as the annual festivals observed at Tirumala.Even as Devasthanams employees were yet to come out of the rude shock following the arrest of the Tirumala temple deputy EO, former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy questioned inconsistencies in the ACB narrative linked to the disproportionate assets case in which Lokanadham was arrested.Pointing out that amid the ongoing raids on Wednesday, ACB DSP Srinivasa Rao had told reporters that following a barrage of complaints received against Lokanadham, the ACB was carrying out raids in connection with the disproportionate assets case as per the court’s direction.Interestingly, in the final ACB press release issued later on Wednesday evening, the ACB took a completely different narrative, stating that the CBI, which completed its investigation into the laddu ghee adulteration case and filed a chargesheet, had shared some information about the disproportionate assets of some TTD employees with the ACB, AP.“In follow-up action, a Disproportionate Assets case was registered against K Chinna Appanna, Personal Assistant (PA) to the then TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy. On further enquiry and collection of evidence, now a fresh disproportionate assets case was registered on Lokanadham U/s 13(2) r/w 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption (As amended in 2018) Act, 1988.”Bhumana wondered how there could be two versions from the ACB on the disproportionate assets case booked against Lokanadham.“It was way back in January that the CBI concluded the investigation in the Laddu ghee adulteration case and had also filed its final chargesheet at the Nellore court besides submitting a self-contained note with some recommendations to the state govt. Close to 7 months after that, the ACB note claims the CBI to have shared information relating to the disproportionate assets of some Devasthanams employees, which is quite bizarre to attempt to link up the laddu case investigation to the DA case booked on Lokanadham,” the ex-TTD chief observed.Bhumana demanded that the state govt disclose the information shared by the CBI with the ACB, if such information exists in the first place, especially after its futile attempt to enforce the “red book vindictive” action against certain Devasthanams employees in the TTD.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Vijayawada | Silver Rate in Vijayawada | Bank Holidays in Vijayawada | Public Holidays in Vijayawada | Petrol Price in Vijayawada | Diesel Price in Vijayawada | CNG Price in Vijayawada | LPG Price in VijayawadaStay updated with the latest Vijayawada news. Download the TOI App.