Tirupati, Nov 26 (IANS): A devotee of the world-famous Hindu temple at Tirumala near Tirupati town in Andhra Pradesh has been caught stealing money from 'Hundi' or the donation box.

The incident occurred on November 23 but came to light on Tuesday after the temple authorities lodged a complaint with the police.

The accused, identified as Venu Lingam, a resident of Tamil Nadu, has been arrested. The police recovered Rs15,000 from him.

The theft, which took place around 2 p.m. on November 23, was captured on CCTV camera and the security staff lodged a complaint after detecting theft while scanning the CCTV footage.

The security staff picked up the suspect and during questioning, he confessed to the crime. Subsequently, officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the hill shrine, lodged a complaint and handed him over to police.

Following the incident, the TTD security stepped up security around the Hundi.

Thousand of devotees, who visit the world's richest temple every day, drop cash and other offerings into Hundi.

Hundi collection is the biggest source of income for the temple, which has a budget of over Rs 5,000 crore.

In January, the TTD passed a Rs 5,141 crore budget for 2024-25, a jump of over 16 per cent over the previous year. This is the highest budget since TTD’s inception in 1933.

For the current financial year, the lion's share of revenues totalling Rs 1,611 crore are expected from Hundi collections.

The Hundi collections often exceed Rs one crore a day. The earnings are counted at Parakamani by the TTD officials.

In April last year, one of Parakamani's staff, who was in charge of foreign currency, was caught stealing US dollars worth Rs 72,000 in Indian currency.

The TTD vigilance department had filed a complaint with the local police. The local police had registered an FIR on the same day and filed a charge sheet immediately the next day in court. Later, he was granted bail.