There are some stories that sound so outrageous they almost seem unreal. This one is one of those.
Every day, tens of thousands of devotees drop offerings into the hundi at the Tirumala temple- India’s richest shrine and a symbol of faith. Few imagine that their coins and prayers might be lining the pockets of a thief working in God’s own house.
For two decades, Ravikumar, a quiet, soft-spoken clerk at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), handled hundi collections which included counting cash, sorting gold, and detailing the donations. It was a job built entirely on trust. But while faith poured in, greed took root. OVODEWA
Bit by bit, day after day, Ravikumar allegedly slipped currency notes and gold trinkets into his pockets. The thefts were so small they escaped notice until, over 20 years, they added up to a fortune.
By 2023, the humble clerk had built a hidden empire worth ₹140 crore, all by cheating God. He owned apartments in Tirupati, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Luxury cars sat pretty in his parking lot. His lifestyle far outstripped his modest salary and yet curiously, no one questioned it.
That changed one April morning when CCTV footage caught him acting suspiciously. Security officers searched him and found just U.S. dollars. Even though the amount sounds trivial, it opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box, cracking open a scandal. Under questioning, Ravikumar reportedly confessed: he had been stealing hundi money for years.
What followed stunned everyone. Instead of jail time, Ravikumar and his wife ‘donated’ seven of their properties back to the temple. The TTD chairman accepted the gesture, and the case was quietly closed through the Lok Adalat. No prison, no prosecution, just a settlement in the name of ‘humanitarian concern.’
But with the change of government in Andhra Pradesh, the case has resurfaced and the next hearing on it is scheduled for October 13.
(Image – Tirupati CCTV)