Three Held in Tirumala for Room Fraud Using Fake Aadhaar Cards

Police said the accused exploited the heavy demand for accommodation in Tirumala by creating forged Aadhaar cards after morphing photographs and Aadhaar numbers on mobile phones. Using these fake identity cards, they allegedly obtained rooms at the Central Reception Office (CRO) by paying the official tariff of ₹50 or ₹100 and later resold the rooms to pilgrims for ₹1,000 to ₹3,000.

In some instances, the same room was reportedly allotted to two or three different pilgrims, leading to cheating.

The arrested persons were identified as Ganga Prasad Keshavrao Kharode (34) of Hingoli district in Maharashtra, Vandavasi Dinesh (27) of Badvel in Kadapa district, and Pattipati Kishore Kumar (33) of Khammam in Telangana.

The case was registered at the Tirumala Two Town police station on a complaint from the TTD Vigilance and Security wing. Acting on the directions of Superintendent of Police L. Subbarayudu, a special investigation was launched.

Police, along with TTD vigilance and security personnel, kept surveillance and caught the trio while they were attempting to secure more rooms using fake Aadhaar cards. Six forged Aadhaar cards and two mobile phones used to prepare them were seized. The accused were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.