COIMBATORE: Four persons, including a temple priest of the Arulmigu Koniamman Temple at Town Hall, were arrested for allegedly misappropriating cash from the temple's hundi collections during the counting process, on Saturday.
The arrested have been identified as A Balasubramaniyan (52), a ticket collector from HUDCO Colony in Peelamedu, V Saravanan (34), an office assistant from Perur, P Pradeep Kumar (31), a Thiruvalagu staff responsible for cleaning the temple and inner shrines from Rathinapuri and S Krishnaraj (56), a temple priest and resident of Kottaimedu.
According to a complaint lodged by temple executive officer S Kumar, the accused allegedly removed one of the hundis that had not yet been counted during the counting process on July 15.
Police said the four allegedly placed the uncounted hundi with those that had already been counted before moving it on a trolley to the rear of the temple. They allegedly opened the hundi, took the cash and shared the money, nearly Rs 31,000, among themselves.
"A devotee witnessed the incident and alerted the temple staff. The devotee also lodged a complaint with the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department in Chennai. Based on the complaint, the department directed the joint commissioner of HR&CE, Coimbatore, to investigate. The inquiry revealed the involvement of the four staff members," a police officer said.
Following the investigation, Ukkadam police registered a case and arrested all four suspects. Further investigation is under way.