TIRUMALA: A tiff between two devotees revealed a security lapse at Tirumala on Friday. A man from Odisha, who possessed a pistol and two rounds of bullets, reached the hill shrine after crossing several security check points and frisking.
According to police sources, Raman Panigrahi (37) from Bhubaneswar, reached Tirupati in a Skoda car two days ago. A youth from Vijayawada travelled with him to Tirumala in his car. For his travel, the youth paid `2,000 at a petrol pump on way to Tirumala.
After darshan on Thursday night, Raman and the youth had a heated argument and a small fight when the former demanded `5,000 for latter’s travel.
After the fight between the two, Raman refused to give the baggage of the youth, who filed a complaint in the vigilance office on Thursday night.
The vigilance sleuths intercepted Raman while he was about to move from the amenities complex.
During the search of his baggage in the car, they found a pistol and two rounds of bullets.
Addressing the media on Friday, TTD CVSO A Ravi Krishna said that Raman was in possession of a pistol and two rounds of bullets, but had no licence. “In our preliminary inquiry, we found that Raman is a habitual offender,” the CVSO said.