An attender attached to the Lord Venkateswara temple at nearby Tirumala was today suspended for allegedly swindling at least 20,000 laddus from different accounts of devotees who had donated cash.

Temple officials said the employee was caught red-handed at the donor cell, from where six to 20 laddus are issued free of cost to devotees who have donated between Rs one lakh to 20 lakh to the famous shrine.

The employee confessed to the crime and said in the last three months he had managed to sell elsewhere at least 20,000 laddus allotted to donor devotees, they said.

However, the laddu account book of the donor devotees was well maintained by the employee, the officials said.

He has been discharging his duties at the cell for the last 30 months, they said, adding that further departmental investigation is on.

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