Vijayawada: 13 Durga temple employees suspended amid massive irregularities in temple

The government has suspended a total of 13 employees, including five superintendent-level staff working at the Vijayawada Durga Temple. The government has acted on a report submitted after ACB officials conducted searches at the temple.

The endowments department special commissioner Arjuna Rao on Monday night ordered the immediate suspension of staff working in seven different divisions on the basis of preliminary information provided by the ACB that there were massive irregularities in temple land and shop lease transactions as well as alms giving, sale of darshan tickets and sale of ammavari sarees.

In this backdrop, Suresh Babu has taken steps to suspend the superintendents of the Annadanam, Stores and Housekeeping department, as well as the superintendent of the department overseeing the lease of temple lands and shops, and the superintendents who regularly supervise various counters on Indrakeeladri hill.

The Executive Officer has suspended three people working at the Darshan ticket sales counter, as well as staff working on the distribution of prasadam, the department that stores sarees and the department that sells photos.