Eight people have been suspended in connection with the alleged theft of money from a temple donation box at Coimbatore’s Koniamman Temple. Minister Ramesh issued the suspension order, citing both direct involvement and failure of oversight.
According to the report, the temple has 16 donation boxes in total—nine permanent boxes, one for collecting contributions for renovation work, and six temporary boxes placed for the chariot festival. The counting of offerings was carried out on July 15 from 10 am to 9 pm in the presence of officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
During the process, one donation box was allegedly kept aside without its contents being taken out, and later hidden along with boxes that had already been counted. Officials reportedly failed to notice the missing step at the time.
An inquiry conducted by HR&CE Joint Commissioner Ramesh Kumar found that four employees had acted together to hide the box and steal the money. A police complaint has been filed, and questioning is under way.
Those suspended include employees Balasubramanian, Saravanan, Pradeep Kumar and Krishnaraj, and officials Ramkumar, Udhayakumar, Kumar and Usha Nandhini.
