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The annual cash offerings of the hundi in the just ended calendar year have even crossed Rs 1000 crore
Demonetised currencies continued to pour into the 'hundi' of the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala and about Rs 1.7 crore worth such notes have been deposited in the last 11 days ending Tuesday, temple sources said.
The highest amount of demonetised notes found in the hundi was Rs 44 lakh on December 31 last year, the next day of the 50-day deadline to deposit the junked currency in banks or post offices, a senior temple official said.
"It appears to be most astonishing that even after the 50-day deadline for depositing the demonetised notes in banks or post offices across the country ended on December 30, devotees continued to deposit such notes along with valid notes as offerings in the hundi of Lord Sri Venkateswara temple that attracts about 2.6 crore devotees every year from across the world", he said.
"The uninterrupted flow of defunct cash into the hundi has amounted to a total of about Rs 1.7 crore during the last 11 days ending on Tuesday," he said.
On New Year's day also, the hundi had netted about Rs 31 lakh of defunct notes he said.
It was expected that the flow of the demonetised cash into the hundi would further come down in the coming days, he said.
He however declined to comment on the fate of defunct currency notes in the kitty of Lord Venkateswara, post 50-day demonetisation period that had ended on December 30.
Daily on an average, the hundi at the shrine has been netting about Rs 2.8 crore in the form of cash besides gold and other precious offerings, he said.
The annual cash offerings of the hundi in the just ended calendar year have even crossed Rs 1000 crore, he said.
Photograph used for representation purpose only.
Image: File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati. Photograph: PTI Photo