VIJAYAWADA: The State government late on Thursday night issued a GO, instructing the Kanaka Durga Temple Trust Board Committee to remove Kodela Surya Latha Kumari as trust board member for taking away the silk saree offered by devotees to the deity on August 5.
Devotees from Undavalli U Suryanarayana, his wife Vasundhara and others offered the silk saree worth `18,000 to the Goddess. As per their wish, the temple priests adorned the deity with the saree for a while and set it aside. Later, it was found missing. On August 6, the donors lodged a complaint with temple executive officer M Padma and requested her to conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter.
On August 7, in-charge endowments commissioner and temple executive officer M Padma conducted a detailed inquiry and submitted a report to the government. In her report, Padma took the statements of temple vedic committee member Shankara Sandilya and other employees who were present on the spot, when the incident happened. The trust board member denied the allegation in the report.
“Therefore in exercise of the powers conferred under section 28 of the AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987, the government instructed the Committee to remove Surya Latha as trust board member,” the GO said.