In a fresh turn of events in the ongoing Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) controversy, former chief vigilance and security officer of TTD, Ramana Kumar accused ex-chief priest of TTD Dr AV Ramana Deekshithulu of misleading the investigation, and alleged that the theory of the missing ‘Pink Diamond’ was cooked up by Deekshitulu.
Deekshitulu who has been shunted by the TTD following his grave allegations of financial irregularities and the missing of jewelry of the temple, backed his claims that the pink diamond was missing and quoted the former chief vigilance officer in his report.
However, rubbishing the claims made by Deekshithulu, Ramana Kumar who visited Tirumala on Sunday, told media, "Ramana Deekshithulu had misguided officials at that time. My report on the missing of the pink diamond was based on the statements given by Ramana Deekshithulu, the then Pradhana Archaka, and Narsimha Deekshitulu. I did not confirm that the diamond was lost, I had mentioned ‘It is learnt that a diamond was missing’. I did not carry out a detailed inquiry regarding the pink diamond,” Deccan Chronicle quoted him saying.
On May 15, Deekshithulu along with few other priests, convened a press meet in Chennai, and made shocking allegations that the TTD authorities were corrupt and that several ornaments belonging to the temple, particularly old jewellery, were missing. Claiming that the activities of the TTD authorities were fishy and non-transparent. He had demanded for an open audit on the ornaments and donations received by the temple. He also asked for a high-level probe into the alleged financial irregularities.
In following subsequent developments Ramana Deekshithulu was sacked on by TTD authorities on grounds that he exceeded the retirement age limit of 65.
Undeterred by the actions of the TTD, the former chief priest, alleged that a pink diamond from the temple belonging to Lord Venkateshwara was auctioned in Geneva.
Deekshithulu further demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident and also demanded the TTD to be brought under the ambit of Right to Information Act.