It appears the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government in Andhra Pradesh is trying to fix senior YSR Congress party leader and former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy as the prime target in the sensational Parakamani theft case of 2023.
According to reports, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, constituted under the directions of the state high court is probing the case in the angle of how the previous TTD board had entered into a compromise with C V Ravi Kumar, a head clerk in the Pedda Jeeyangar Mutt and a Parakamani volunteer, who was caught while stealing about US $900 in his undergarments in 2023.
The SIT is digging into the allegations that Bhumana had forced Ravi Kumar transfer some of the assets in his name, while surrendering some other properties in the name of the TTD.
According to TTD trust board member and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy, the culprits in the Parakamani case were being projected as “donors” rather than “thieves.”
“They turned theft into charity and the thief into a devotee,” he remarked, lashing out at Bhumana and his associates for “acting as if they were morally righteous,” he said, adding that those involved in the misappropriation of temple funds will not escape punishment.
Bhanu Prakash Reddy questioned how Karunakar Reddy could have compromised in the Lokayukta when the accused in the Parakamani case were being taken there.
He warned that Lord Venkateswara, the fierce Narasimha avatar, would not forgive those who looted His treasury.
He accused Karunakar Reddy and his group of speaking shamelessly about the Parakamani issue and threw an open challenge for a public debate on the matter.
“Was it not Karunakar Reddy who signed the resolutions related to the Parakamani issue that day?” he asked pointedly.
Calling Parakamani a “sensitive spiritual and financial matter,” he advised devotees not to believe the lies being spread by Karunakar Reddy.
“The time is nearing when Karunakar Reddy and his men will have to repay everything with interest,” Bhanu Prakash Reddy warned.
