Former MP’s relatives robbed at TTD guest house

TIRUPATI: In one of the major thefts at the VIP area of Padmavathi Nagar in Tirumala, a group of devotees from Hyderabad were robbed of Rs 2 lakh cash and a diamond-studded jewellery in the wee hours of Wednesday. 

The devotees, relatives of former MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, were scheduled to have VIP darshan later in the morning. 

Vijaya Sena Reddy, along with 12 members of his family, was on a yearly visit to the hill shrine and staying at TTD’s Mani Manjari guest house. The room where they were lodged was donated by Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy’s family a decade ago. 

After 11.30 am, the women retired to room number 4 of the guest house and had with them their vanity bags and wallets. They woke up around 5 pm for darshan only to discover that the belongings in their bags had gone missing. 

The police said around Rs 2 lakh cash, a diamond ring and a diamond-studded gold chain were reported to be stolen from the guest house. Fingerprint experts and sniffer dogs were rushed to the spot. The dogs led the team towards the Gokulam guest house, and stopped, police sources said. 

Tirumala crime police registered a case. The police, who are currently verifying CCTV footage from cameras in and around Padmavathi Nagar, suspected that the culprits might be working at the Mani Manjari guest house.  “In the last 50 years that I have been visiting Tirumala, I have never faced a situation such as this,” Vijay said.