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Tirupati, Nov 20 (IANS) Tirumala police have registered a case against the driver and owner of a car found with non-Hindu religious symbol stickers on Tirumala hill, where the Sri Venkateswara temple is located.
On a complaint by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), a case was registered against the vehicle driver and owner under the AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act – 1987 (AP CRIS Act) at the Tirumala II Town police station on Thursday.
Constable V. Vasu Babu, who failed to detect religious symbols on the vehicle at Alipiri check post, has been removed from duty.
According to TTD, which manages the affairs of the famous hill temple, a car from Tamil Nadu was found with religious symbol stickers on Tirumala hill.
Although the vehicle came through the 9th lane at Alipiri check post, constable Vasu Babu on duty there could not detect this religious symbol. The train passed through the check post at 10.40 am on Thursday.
TTD said that immediately after receiving this information, the concerned vigilance personnel located the vehicle in the parking area near the fire office at Tirumala and immediately removed the sticker.
Later, a complaint was lodged at Tirumala II Town Police Station and a case was registered against the vehicle driver, Gobi of Karur district (Tamil Nadu) and the owner of the vehicle.
Vasu Babu was removed from the duties of Alipiri with immediate effect for failing to identify the stickers despite repeated instructions. Departmental action was taken against him on charges of dereliction of duty.
Propagation of non-Hindu religions is prohibited on Tirumala hill.
In 2007, the then Congress government of undivided Andhra Pradesh passed an order that the seven hills of Tirumala would remain a place of worship only for Hindus and prohibited the propagation of other religions. The order also declared the seven hills surrounding the temple as places of worship and thus banned all political activities, including holding of local body elections.
The order states that no other religion shall be propagated in the Tirumala area through words – spoken or written – or by means of signs or visual representations or by distributing any printed material or other forms of religious literature.
Rule 196 of the TTD Act also states that no other religious propagation is allowed within the 10.33 square mile area of the Tirumala shrine. According to Rule 197 of the Act, people who live in Tirumala and who work for TTD must be Hindus.
–IANS
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