Coimbatore: Eight officials and staff members of the Arulmigu Koniamman Temple here were suspended on Sunday in connection with the misappropriation of hundi funds.
The suspensions, ordered by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister Ramesh, include four employees directly accused of the theft and four supervising officials, who were penalised for severe administrative negligence.
The disciplinary action follows a probe by HR&CE Regional Joint Commissioner Ramesh Kumar into the mishandling of donations during the temple’s scheduled counting process on July 15.
The suspensions come a day after the Ukkadam police arrested four temple employees on July 25 for their alleged execution of the theft.
Authorities identified the arrested individuals as ticket collector A Balasubramaniyan (52), office assistant V Saravanan (34), cleaning staff P Pradeep Kumar (31), and temple priest S Krishnaraj (56).
According to police and temple officials, the accused covertly segregated an uncounted hundi from the main counting area, moved it to the rear of the temple on a trolley, and extracted approximately Rs 31,000 to divide among themselves.
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