6 suspended for swindling Rs 3.4cr from laddu sales at Rameswaram temple

Rameswaram: A fraud amounting to the tune of Rs 3.4 crore by illegal sales of free laddus has been uncovered at the Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram. Six temple employees have been suspended and three temporary staff members have been terminated so far in connection with the fraud.The state govt had introduced the free laddu scheme in the 2023-24 budget. Sources said the irregularities came to light following an investigation conducted by the temple joint commissioner, S Selladurai. The probe revealed that between 2023 and Feb 2026, junior assistant K Panchamoorthy, who served as ‘peshkar' (in charge of temple offerings), orchestrated a fraud by diverting approximately 11.4 lakh free laddus, sold them illegally at temple counters and pocketed the collections. He with eight other staff members regularly procured raw materials, made laddus and mixed them with the official stock to tally the numbers, an official source said. The group also systematically underreported the number of laddus distributed free of cost to pilgrims.Besides Panchamoorthy, junior assistants Lavanya and Ambika, ticket seller Selvi and support staff Sivaneswari and Vikram were placed under suspension. Three temporary workers — Prabhu Ravi, Nithyanandam and Balaji — were dismissed from service.