Services of 52 special appointees who crossed 60 years of age were terminated by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Monday as per the High court orders.

The AP High Court had directed the TTD last month not to entertain the services of retired personnel. The 52 personnel, whose services were terminated, were working in various wings and included Tirumala temple OSD, Mr P. Seshadri, director of the TTD’s employees training centre, Mr Bhuman Subramanyam and senior functionaries Mr Kamisetty Srinivasulu and Mr Raghavacharyulu.

Meanwhile, the Tirumala chief priest Mr Ramana Dikshitulu approached the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, in Hyderabad Monday and requested him to terminate the services of the special officer, Mr A.V. Dharma Reddy complaining that he was rude to archakas working in the temple.

Sources say that the cold war between Mr Ramana Dikshitulu and Mr Dharma Reddy peaked after things turned against Mr P. Seshadri. A section of priests and officials found fault with Mr Dikshitulu for directly approaching the CM without taking his grievance to the EO.