Tirumala: TTD CVSO asks pilgrims not to trust middlemen

Tirumala: TTD Chief Vigilance & Security officer Gopinath Jatti on Monday exhorted the devotees not to fall prey to brokers, conman and unauthorised persons for darshan and accommodation. After the arrest of a middlemen who collected huge money from pilgrims luring them to provide Arjitha seva tickets for darshan, the CVSO in a statement on Monday, said the brokers were now cheating the gullible devotees on new routes like the social media platforms Facebook, Telegram, Twitter claiming to be TTD employees and Archakas assuring darshan.

Citing an instance, the CVSO mentioned that one broker Kompella Hari Nagasai Karthik@HNS Karthik had opened fake social media accounts in name of Satyanarayana Avadhani, Ambatipudi, Gollapalli Srinivasa Dikshitulu and through them has been found making offers for Srivari Abhisekam, Suprabatham, Tomala, Archana and VIP break darshan tickets.

It was found in the investigation that on his mobile numbers 7416606642, 8185920397, 9912372268, he received huge payments of lakhs of rupees via Google Pay and PhonePay apps from devotees lured with the offer of much sought after Arjitha seva tickets for darshan and later switched off the mobiles after receiving money and remain incommunicado, leaving the devotees in lurch. Based on a complaint lodged by TTD Vigilance, the Tirumala police arrested the broker and sent him to remand.

CVSO said broker H N S Karthik was also involved in several crimes and a suspect sheet is being opened on him by Tirumala police. He appealed to devotees not to not trust such brokers or unofficial sites but log onto TTD website only for booking Darshan, Arjita sevas tickets and accommodation.