Devotee drops Rs 100 crore cheque at Andhra temple. His bank balance was…

Simhachalam temple in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (Image credit: Vizag Tourism)

Officials counting donations at a temple in Andhra Pradesh were surprised to see a cheque for Rs 100 crore on Wednesday. According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, the cheque was made out to Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Vari Devasthanam, Simhachalam, in Visakhapatnam. It was discovered during the counting of offering in hundi on Wednesday.

The devotee who made the cheque was identified as one Boddepalli Radhakrishna. It later emerged that he had only Rs 17 in his bank account, and the cheque, if temple officials had chosen to cash it, would have bounced.

Temple officials also noticed that the cheque did not have a date mentioned on it. Moreover, there was a correction in the amount written on the cheque, according to a report in The Hindu.

When temple staff informed the temple Executive Officer (EO) Trinadh Rao about the cheque, he suggested calling the bank to verify the donor’s details. The devotee’s bank balance came to light after the temple contacted Kotak Bank officials at MVP Double Road in Visakhapatnam.

Contacting the bank revealed that Radhakrishna’s bank had a balance of Rs 17.

“This is nothing new for the temple. What I heard that in the past cheques with fancy amounts were dropped in the hundi by the devotees,” the EO said.

According to the Deccan Chronicle report, the temple is not planning to pursue a case of fraud against Radhakrishna.