Private guest houses around Edupayala temple turn gambling dens

Gamblers are allegedly occupying the guest houses in the guise of devotees. Interestingly, they are said to be coming in teams from Hyderabad and other districts to spend nights in the guest houses because there was not much monitoring.

Medak: Several guest houses built around the Sri Vana Durga Bhavani Temple Edupayala are allegedy becoming gambling dens with the police reportedly turning a blind eye towards such activities.

Gamblers are allegedly occupying the guest houses in the guise of devotees. Interestingly, they are said to be coming in teams from Hyderabad and other districts to spend nights in the guest houses because there was not much monitoring. Following a complaint from family members of one of the persons who came thus, the police raided a guest house on Sunday night and found 12 persons engaged in gambling activity. The police also recovered casino coins worth Rs.12.5 lakh. The police also seized Rs.49,000 from the accused.

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Since the devotee influx has been increasing day-by-day to the Edupayala Temple, many private guest houses have been built around the temple. There were nearly 15 to 20 guest houses around the temple under Kulcharam and Papannapet police station limits, each with 10 to 20 rooms each. The guest house owners charge Rs.1,000 to Rs 1,500 per 24 hours. However, many were occupying these guest houses during the weekends. They were reportedly spending lakhs of rupees on gambling.

Devotees have urged the police for regular monitoring of activities in these guest houses to prevent such activities in religious places.