Security breach: Devotee films Tirupati temple

TIRUPATI: In a glaring security breach at the world renowned Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, an unidentified devotee managed to sneak into the temple with a mobile phone/camera on Sunday and video record the Ananda Nilayam and inner precincts of Vimana Prakaram (pathway around the main sanctum).
Ananda Nilayam is the glittering gold-plated dome which houses the sanctum sanctorum of the hill temple.

After the video went viral, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams ordered a probe into the incident, with the temple body's vigilance and security wing coming under the scanner for its failure to prevent the security breach in the first place.
Any kind of electronic gadgets are strictly prohibited inside the temple, and it's a big mystery how the unidentified devotee managed to beat the metal detectors and multiple-level frisking to get near the sanctum sanctorum with his mobile phone/camera.
TTD’s chief vigilance and security officer D Narasimha Kishore said they are taking the help of the IT department to trace the source from where the video was first uploaded on social media. “Strict legal action would be initiated against the miscreant involved.
We are checking every inch of CCTV footage both inside and outside the temple to zero in on the culprit,” he said. He further said that it rained heavily in Tirumala on Sunday and there was a power outage of two hours in the hill town. “We suspect he managed to sneak in with apen camera during that period,” he added.
What is alarming is that even the 24/7 CCTV surveillance teams deployed by the TTD could not track down the devotee while he was recording the video of the Ananda Nilayam. The incident came to light only after the video went viral on Monday.
Former TTD trust board member and BJP leader G Bhanu Prakash Reddy expressed serious concern over the security breach and demanded the temple administration to crack the whip against those responsible. “The Tirumala temple is among the most well-guarded temples in the country.
It’s shocking that despite the TTD spending hundreds of crores of rupees annually to constantly upgrade its security set-up, an incident like this has happened,” he said. It may be recalled that on October 16, 2019, a foreign devotee, who was part of group of Iskcon pilgrims, managed to sneak into the Tirumala temple with his mobile phone but was taken into custody by the TTD’s vigilance and security wing when he tried to take pictures inside the temple.
Though the TTD then said it would take all measures to prevent a similar security breach, Sunday’s incident exposes the chinks in the temple trust’s existing security set-up once again.