Vijayawada: Former TTD Board member G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy has urged to release AP Special Secretary Manmohan Singh’s report for the public. He alleged that TTD officials showed negligence towards shifting TTD’s gold. He sought thorough inquiry by the Union Government on the TTD gold and said that he wrote a letter about the same to the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Reddy said that the Static Surveillance Team of the Election Commission seized around 1,381 kg (approximately worth Rs 400 crore) of gold at Puduchatram Village, near Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu on April 17 this year. It created sensational news in the media that hurt the feelings of crores of Hindu devotees of Lord Sri Balaji.
From the seizure, it was known that Punjab National Bank authorities rushed with relevant documents stating that the gold belongs to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams of Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, which was deposited with their bank. Further, they stated that the deposit term ended and hence, the gold was being returned to the TTD. However, the TTD did not receive any letter from the PNB officials about the gold being brought back to its Treasury. This indicates that the authorities did not follow proper procedures while returning such a huge deposit of gold of Lord Sri Venkateswara. It was also shocking to know that there were minimum security.arrangements for the transit.
Reddy said that Manmohan Singh submitted a report finding lapses in the gold shifting that indicates the failure of the TTD officials. Hence, he urged to release the report for the public. He further demanded an inquiry by the Union Ministry of Finance and stated that he submitted letters on this issue to the Central Vigilance Commissioner, AP DGP, Chief Secretary of AP Government and the TTD officials.
