HYDERABAD: The temple lands scam which rocked the endowments department this week runs much deeper than seems on the surface. Everything with regard to the sale of land belonging to the Seetharama Chandra Swamy temple at Devarayamjal in Shaikpet mandal happened with the full knowledge and approval of endowments minister M Satyanarayana Rao, top sources said. Endowments commissioner I Venkateshwarlu and five other officials are facing an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigation for selling 245 acres of temple land at prices far below the market rates, causing a loss of Rs 30 crore to the exchequer. A couple of government orders (GOs) issued by the then principal secretary (revenue) J P Murthy relating to the Devarayamjal transaction raise many questions. The minister has pleaded ignorance about the entire issue, but these crucial orders, GO Ms No. 966 and GO Ms No. 508, issued in April and May, days before Venkateshwarlu''s retirement, would not have been possible without the approval of Satyanarayana Rao, sources said. As per government rules, a GO cannot be issued without the signature of the minister concerned. Out of the 1,036 acres of land the Seetharama Swamy temple had, Venkateshwarlu sold 161 acres for prices ranging from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5.50 lakh per acre, against the market price of Rs 25 lakh. The buyers allegedly include the relatives of some top politicians, authentic sources told The Times of India. The government issued GO Ms No. 810 prohibiting registration of temple lands in about 91 survey numbers on Oct 14, 2004. This order was issued by Murthy. Just a fortnight before Venkateshwarlu''s retirement, it issued another order (GO Ms no 966) withdrawing the earlier notification (GO Ms no 810), allowing the endowments commissioner to use his powers "judiciously and in the best interests of the institution." These orders were issued by Murthy. The secretary could not have issued the orders without the minister first signing the draft file, top sources said. Before 966 was issued, the endowments commissioner had in a letter to the government prepared the ground for spiking the restraining order by reporting that the temple was facing "a lot of difficulty in getting compensation of land to generate sufficient funds for the temple from the disputed lands in view of prohibitory orders." He sought powers to settle the disputes. Accordingly, GO Ms 966 was issued and it was promptly published in the gazette notification on May 18. Even before issuing this order, the government issued another (GO Ms no 508, dated April 16, 2005) denotifying 15 survey numbers hosting the temple lands. Surprisingly, the Ranga Reddy collector stated in a report to the government that these survey numbers had been included in the registration ban notification ''erroneously''. The minister has already denied any involvement in the scam. Murthy was not available for comment.