The theft of an electric bus being operated by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) for ferrying the devotees free of cost on Sunday exposed the chinks in the temple town’s security armour.
The incident happened when the annual Brahmotsavams are under way at Tirumala in view of which a huge posse of security personnel have been deployed.
The bus, which is being run as a free service to pick up and drop off the devotees at various points atop Tirumala hills, was parked by the driver on September 23 (Saturday) night at the charging station at the GNC toll point. The driver was shocked as the bus was missing from the parking bay when he reported for duty early on September 24 (Sunday).
Acting on a complaint lodged by the TTD’s transport authorities, the Tirumala police and the TTD’s in-house security sleuths got down to screening the CCTV footage which showed the bus entering the ghat road at 3.53 a.m. and proceeding towards Tirupati.
The miscreants abandoned the bus at Naidupeta, almost 100 km away from Tirumala, after travelling through the city roads and the national highway, with none taking note of the TTD vehicle.
Even as the vehicle fitted with GPS equipment crossed two security points-cum-toll plazas at the beginning and the end of the ghat roads, it had apparently not raised an iota of suspicion in the security guards on duty.
The bus was picked up from the spot where it was parked by the miscreants on the roadside. The police have launched a manhunt for the unidentified persons who drove away the bus, right under the nose of the hundreds of security personnel, guarding the Lord Venkateswara temple.
