VISAKHAPATNAM: Joint Commissioner of Endowments Azad on Saturday began a probe into the allegation of duping a devotee from Nellore of Rs 1.44 crore promising gold biscuits of Simhachalam temple, using forged documents. Speaking to mediapersons, Azad said two outsourcing employees of Simhachalam Devasthanam, Sekhar and Madhu, were suspended as their names cropped up during the preliminary enquiry.
The two were related to vendor Hymavathi, who allegedly cheated the devotee. Azad said the probe was started as per the directive of Endowments Minister V Srinivasa Rao. The devasthanam EO received a complaint on September 1 from Sravani, a devotee from Nellore, stating that she made a payment of Rs 1.44 crore to Hymavathi in lieu of gold biscuits of temple. She said in the complaint that the promised gold was not yet delivered to her.
Azad said since transactions were done online, they have decided to complain to cyber crime police also. “We have found transactions of Rs 5 to 7 lakh during the preliminary enquiry. The complainant said her husband was working in ISRO as technician and paid around Rs 1 crore cash to the accused and the rest through bank transactions,” Azad said. He clarified that the temple has no connection with Hymavathi.
During earlier visits to the temple, Sravani came in contact with the accused who arranged darshan for her family. She believed that they were devasthanam employees and fell into their trap. To a question, Azad said Sravani was yet to lodge a police complaint. The complainant said Rs 1.08 crore was paid in cash to Hymavathi. Sravani’s husband said they had procured money from their relatives.
Meanwhile, the officials asked the complainant to send the alleged invoice of devasthanam so that they can send it to the forensic lab for checking its authenticity. He said they would also enquire where the “fake invoice” was printed. The officials have recovered mobile phones of the two outsourcing employees to verify the call data. He said there was no delay in taking action on the complaint. The first complaint was received on September 1 and the second on September 3.