Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy has alleged that there is no protection for the temple gold during the Chandrababu Naidu’s rule in the State.
Addressing the media at Lotus Pond, the party’s headquarters in Hyderabad, Mr. Reddy said that there were several doubts about the transport of the TTD gold. The Chief Minister, who was highly vocal about matters that were less significant, was silent on the TTD gold issue, Mr. Reddy pointed out.
Only a thorough inquiry would bring the truth to light. TTD Executive Officer A. K. Singal made contradictory statements. Initially he said that the TTD had nothing to do with the gold and a little later he said that the gold belonged to the TTD, but it was with a bank. If his claim about the gold being handed over to the bank was correct it should be there in the TTD records.
There were doubts like why the gold was being transported without any sort of documents and not on the main road, but on a secondary road, Mr. Reddy alleged.
EO’s appointment
Doubt about the gold and wealth of the TTD being stolen in a planned manner should also be cleared in the inquiry, Mr. Reddy said. First the head priest Ramana Deekshitulu was removed, then three more important archakas were thrown out. A person who belonged to north India was appointed the Executive Officer and a relative of Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu was made the Chairman of the TTD Board. All this appeared as if there was a big plan to take away the gold, Mr. Reddy alleged.
Chief Secretary L.V. Subramanyam had asked another senior IAS officer Manmohan Singh to conduct an inquiry, but the full report had to be made public. The inquiry report should bring out the truth about all these aspects, Mr. Reddy said.
The police knew the person who stole the two crowns from the Govindarajula Swamy Temple, but they were trying to foist the case against two small-time property offenders, Mr. Reddy said.