MLC held for misuse of VVIP darshan tickets

Tirupati: The alleged misuse of Srivari darshan under VVIP quota took a new twist on Friday with the TTD vigilance and security wing picking up an MLC elected from teachers’ constituency in East and West Godavari districts for selling tickets at an exorbitant price.

MLC Shaik Sabji, who became MLC in 2021, was caught after he sought VVIP tickets for himself and 14 of his followers from the TTD Joint Executive Officer on Thursday. The authorities allotted 10 but only six turned up for darshan on Friday morning.

“We grew suspicious and found that there are different addresses in the Aadhaar cards produced on Thursday and Friday. On verification we found that the original cards had addresses of Karnataka where as the cards shown on Friday had the addresses of Hyderabad (Telangana). After enquiry we found that Rs1 lakh was paid to the account of MLC’s driver Raju by six devotees,” a TTD vigilance wing official told local electronic media.

In the past also there were many cases on submission of fake VVIP letters for break darshan. Some even claim protocol darshan. The case booked against MLC has been shifted to One Town Police of Tirumala.