3 held for stealing gold, cash for hundi

Vijayawada: Three employees of Kanaka Durga Temple were caught red handed by the security personals while stealing gold ornaments and cash from the Hundi collection on Tuesday. According to the information V Koteswaramma, executive officer of the Durga temple, accused Simhachalam, a temple sweeper, Annapornamma wife of Simhachalam also a sweeper and Durga Rao an out sourcing employee, were caught red handed by the home guard Nagaraju and temple attender Venkat Rao.

The EO said that the offerings will be collected into bags and shifted to the 6th floor of the temple, where the counting process is done regularly. But, after reaching the counting hall the accused Simhachalam stole a gold ornament and cash of Rs 2,000 and hid in his lungi and tried to flee from the area. The security staff suspected some foul game and followed him.

The accused was caught red handed while he was giving the stolen ornament to his wife Annapornamma and cash to Durga Rao. On reporting the matter to the police, the accused was taken into custody by the police. The EO further said there were allegations on Simhachalam that he was involved in such things earlier.