E-Paper
Andhra ACB arrests TTD’s deputy executive officer in DA case
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Andhra Pradesh police on Thursday arrested the deputy executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), that administers Lord Venkateshwara temple on Tirumala hills, in a disproportionate assets case following searches at his residence, office and the houses of his relatives, officials said
Prefer HTon Google
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Andhra Pradesh police on Thursday arrested the deputy executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), that administers Lord Venkateshwara temple on Tirumala hills, in a disproportionate assets case following searches at his residence, office and the houses of his relatives, officials said.
Five teams of the ACB had conducted the searches at the locations linked to Mendu Lokanatham, they began on Wednesday morning and went on till evening, ACB deputy superintendent of police in Tirupati, Maddi Srinivasa Rao said. “Lokanatham had amassed massive assets disproportionate to his known sources of income,” he said.
After completing the searches, the ACB officials took Lokanatham into custody on Thursday morning and shifted him to the ACB office. “He was produced before the ACB court in Nellore for judicial remand,” the DSP said.
During the searches 2kg of gold, 6.5kg of silver, ₹12.5 lakh in cash, four fixed deposits in Lokanatham and his son’s names and property documents, including a flat in Srinivasa Nagar in Tirupati, two houses in Gollavanigunta, and a house in Padiredu of Vadamalapeta Mandal, were seized.
The ACB also conducted searches at the residences of the accused officer’s brothers-in-law. It also found a property document valued at ₹31.98 lakh, jointly held in the name of the accused officer’s wife and others. “The ACB has provisionally estimated the total value of the assets identified so far at approximately ₹5 crore. But their market value is several times more than the document value,” the DSP said.
According to Rao, the case was registered after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the alleged adulteration of ghee used in the making of Tirumala Laddu prasadam.
According to the ACB official, the CBI had completed its investigation into the ghee adulteration case and filed a charge sheet. During the course of the investigation, CBI reportedly came across information relating to the assets of some TTD employees and shared the details with the ACB for further action.
As part of the follow-up action, the ACB’s Visakhapatnam office had registered a disproportionate assets case on April 22, 2026 against Kaduru Chinna Appanna, who served as personal assistant to the then TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy.
The ACB said that, based on further enquiry and collection of evidence, it registered another DA case against Lokanatham on September 2, 2026. The case was registered by the ACB under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Lokanatham, a resident of Gundlakandriga village in Yerpedu mandal of Tirupati district, joined the TTD as a junior assistant on February 1, 1989, on compassionate grounds, according to the ACB.
He was subsequently promoted through various positions, including senior assistant, superintendent and assistant executive officer, before being promoted to his present position as deputy executive officer at TTD.
