No Plan To Shut, Says Tirupati Temple As Priests, Staff Test Covid +ve
Courtesy: NDTV
New Delhi: People can continue to visit the famous Tirumala Tirupati Balaji temple, the top official of the temple's board has said amid a controversy over priests and employees getting infected with the highly contagious coronavirus. The temple's board decided to re-open it on June 11, in line with the centre's "Unlock" plans to handhold the country out of the pandemic in phases.
There are no plans to stop public darshan at Tirumala Tirupati Balaji temple, said YV Subba Reddy, chairperson of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Board. He said there is no evidence of pilgrims testing positive for coronavirus.
Fourteen priests were among 140 temple employees who tested positive for COVID-19, which is known to spread faster in crowded places, hence the need for social distancing, according to the authorities.
Seventy have recovered, Mr. Reddy said, adding most of those who got infected with coronavirus are from the Andhra Pradesh Police who have been working with the temple. "Only one of them is having severe symptoms," the TTD chairperson said.
"We have no plan to close Tirumala temple. Senior priests will not be put on duty. Priests and employees have requested separate accommodation," Mr. Reddy said, adding a separate facility for making food for the employees will be set up.
Coronavirus cases in India have crossed the one million-mark, recording 34,956 fresh infections and 687 deaths in the biggest one-day jump today, government data shows. It put total cases recorded since the outbreak began in the country at 1,003,832 with 25,602 deaths. Over 6.35 lakh people or 63.34 per cent of the patients have recovered
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Delhi court sentences CBI joint director to 3 months' imprisonment in IRS officer assault case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced two CBI officers to three months' imprisonment for assaulting and trespassing into the residence of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer during a raid over two decades ago.
Judicial Magistrate Shashank Nandan Bhatt was hearing the arguments on the sentence against the convicted retired police officer V K Pandey and Ramneesh, who was serving as a superintendent of police when the raid was conducted in 2000.
Ramneesh is at present a joint director at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The court also fined Rs 50,000 each to both the accused.
Both were accused under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief) and 448 (criminal trespass) in a complaint filed by IRS officer Ashok Kumar Aggarwal.
The case pertained to an incident on October 19, 2000, when a CBI team carried out a search and arrest operation at Aggarwal's residence in Paschim Vihar.
Aggarwal alleged that the officials forcibly entered his house in the early hours, assaulted him and violated legal procedures during the arrest.
#WATCH | Delhi | Former IRS officer assault case. | Tis Hazari Court sentenced CBI joint director Ramneesh and Retired ACP Vivek Pandey to 3 months sentence in an assault case filed by former IRS officer Ashok Agarwal. The court has granted them bail to challenge the judgment.… https://t.co/RwAxjMrWDK pic.twitter.com/2FlkG4rDs0
— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2026
