In the case where a woman from Nellore was allegedly cheated to the tune of ₹1.4 crore to buy gold ornaments from Simhachalam Devasthanam, officials from the Endowments Department, who initiated an inquiry, found that two outsourcing staff of the Devasthanam were allegedly involved in the offence.
Following instructions from the AP Endowments Minister Velampalli Srinivasa Rao, Joint Commissioner of Endowments Department Saleem Surya Chandrasekhar Azad visited the temple on Saturday. Speaking to the media, Mr. Azad said that on September 1, Sravani, a resident of Nellore, had complained to Devasthanam that she had given about ₹1.4 crore to one Hymavathi from Simhachalam, as she claimed that Devasthanam is going to sell gold ornaments of the main deity. The victim claimed that while ₹5 to ₹6 lakh was sent to bank accounts, more than ₹1.3 crore was given in cash, he said.
Mr. Azad said that role of Hymavathi’s brothers Madhu and Sekhar, working in the Devasthanam is suspected. The duo were placed under suspension. According to the endowments official, the victims claimed that they knew Hymavathi, Madhu and Sekhar for a very long time. Whenever, they came to Simhachalam, the trio used to help in ‘darshan’ of the main deity, they said. Believing them, the victims allegedly gave the money, he said.
He also said that husband of Sravani works at ISRO. The endowments officials also enquired how is it possible to have ₹1 crore cash working in a small job at ISRO. The family replied that they had collected money from all the family members, he said.
“We are going to lodge a complaint with the Police Commissioner as well as the cyber crime police. The duo have been working with the devasthanam for the last 10 years. We will request police to check their transactions as well as call data since the last couple of years to check whether they had committed any other frauds,” he said.
When asked whether signatures of the Devasthanam officials were forged to give receipts, Mr Azad also said that they had asked the victims to give back all the receipts given by Hymavathi, so that they could be sent to forensic laboratory.
He said that the Endowments Department would initiate steps to make sure such incidents did not recur.
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