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The man accused of stealing from the donations of the Tirumala temple in the TTD Parakamani theft case, CV Ravi Kumar, has released a video confessing to the theft, while denying that he paid any bribes to reach a settlement in the case.
In April 2023, Ravi Kumar was caught with nearly USD 900 hidden in his undergarments, according to the FIR. The money was allegedly stolen from the Parakamani Halls, where select devotees are authorised to supervise the counting process of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) donations. The case was settled in a Lok Adalat court after Ravi Kumar donated several properties to the TTD. But there were allegations that the money amounted to USD 11,300 and was downplayed.
The case was recently reopened and being probed by the Crime Investigation Department (CID), when former TTD official Y Satish Kumar – who was the complainant in the Parakamani theft case and later reached the settlement with Ravi Kumar – was found dead.
Ravi Kumar was a clerk at the Tirumala Pedda Jeeyangar Mutt, when he was caught stealing money from TTD donations. In the video released on Saturday, December 6, he said, “Two years ago, on April 29, 2023, I made a mistake at Parakamani. As penance, my family and I saw it as a big sin, and decided to donate 90% of my assets to the deity. But some people have misinterpreted this act, alleging that I did it because I came under pressure from someone, or that I gave bribes to get away with it, etc.”
Ravi Kumar, who also runs a cable business and real estate business, said that he only gave his assets to the Tirumala deity.
He also alleged that he was blackmailed by some people and has filed cases against them.
“Some people spoke very inappropriately about me, claiming that I had gotten surgery done in my private parts etc.” Ravi Kumar said such remarks have caused him and his family mental agony over the past two years.
In the video, Ravi Kumar is seen breaking down while speaking, saying he repents his mistake every day.
The case was later transferred to the Lok Adalat. After Ravi Kumar donated a few properties worth crores to TTD, a ‘settlement’ was reached in the Lok Adalat court.
However, after the TDP-led coalition government came to power, a TTD probe alleged that the police exerted pressure on the TTD’s vigilance staff members to settle the issue in the Lok Adalat.
The Tirumala temple is one of the richest Hindu temples in the world. Parakamani is the name of a voluntary ‘service’ through which certain authorised devotee volunteers help the TTD count and sort donations to the temple, which includes cash, at times in the form of foreign currency, and also gold and valuable jewels.
According to the TTDP vigilance probe report, Ravi Kumar and his wife had donated seven properties worth crores to the TTD in May 2023 claiming it was out of “pure devotion”, weeks after he was caught.
In September 2023, the complainant, TTD assistant vigilance and security officer (AVSO) Y Satish Kumar, and the accused, Ravi Kumar, told the Lok Adalat court that they had reached a compromise and the case was closed.
Two years later, in September, the High Court suspended the Lok Adalat orders and ordered a CID probe into the case. Just as the CID probe was intensifying, Satish Kumar was found dead. His death is now being investigated as a murder.
TDP has alleged that YSRCP leaders were complicit in the theft of nearly Rs 100 crore in foreign currency from the Parakamani hall.
Recently, former Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Parakamani theft was a small case involving 900 USD, but the Chandrababu Naidu government had brought things to such a state that a police officer involved in the case, Satish Kumar, ended up dead.
CM Naidu called Jagan’s remarks shocking, claiming that he had hurt the sentiments of Tirumala devotees by trivialising the Parakamani case.
