Tirupati: TTD Vigilance and temple city police have now shifted their focus to the priests of the TTD-run Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati, suspecting their role in the disappearance of three golden crowns worth Rs 50 lakh on Saturday.
The vigilance and the police personnel who took up investigation on Sunday, questioned the chief priest and other priests at the temple.
Three golden crowns, which adorn the processional deities of Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy at the sub-shrine in the Govindaraja Swamy temple, went missing on Saturday. They approximately weighed 1,351 gm.
That the crowns had gone missing came to light after a priest reopened the temple about 5.45 pm for daily rituals. The priest informed higher-ups, who lodged a police complaint late on Saturday.
It was learnt from a temple official that the police have taken two suspects into custody and are investigating further into the incident.
Following the theft, TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal inspected the temple on Sunday evening. He later told journalists: “There were 15 cameras in the temple, and all are functioning properly. TTD vigilance staff has also given CCTV footage for further investigation.”
He said that as soon as the duty archakas realised that the crowns were missing, they informed senior officers and joint executive officer P. Bhaskar and Chief Vigilance and Security Officer Gopinath Jetti rushed to the temple and enquired with the staff.
Tirupati SP K.K.N. Anburajan said: “We have constituted six special teams to investigate. CCTV is being examined.”
