ACB raids TTD deputy EO's four premises in Tirupati, seizes gold and cash
ACB raids four premises of TTD Deputy EO Mendu Lokanatham in Tirupati district, seizing gold, silver, cash and property documents.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted simultaneous searches at four locations linked to Mendu Lokanatham, the Deputy Executive Officer (EO) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), in Tirupati district on Wednesday. The raids yielded property documents, cash, gold, silver and other material.
Lokanatham currently serves as Deputy EO of the Tirumala temple and previously held key positions during the erstwhile YSRCP government, according to ACB sources.
The searches were triggered by information that emerged during the CBI's investigation into the alleged adulteration of ghee supplied to the temple. That probe revealed details concerning certain TTD employees, leading ACB's Visakhapatnam unit to register a case against K. Chinna Appanna, a former personal assistant to ex-TTD chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy, for allegedly influencing ghee suppliers.
The trail subsequently led to Lokanatham. Raids were carried out at his residential premises and a relative's house in Tirupati, his ancestral home in Yerpedu, and his official chambers on Tirumala hills.
An ACB release said Lokanatham had purchased a house at Pedda Kapu Layout in Tirupati in his spouse's name. Two house plots with a building in Gollavanigunta, a plot at Padiredu Aranyam village in Vadamalapet mandal, and another in Srinivasapuram were found registered in his son's name.
Officials also discovered four fixed deposits in relatives' names, along with 2 kg of gold, 6.5 kg of silver, and cash valued at ₹5 crore. Searches were still underway when reports last came in.