Hyderabad, July 8: A day after the high profile visit of President Pratibha Patil and a large gathering of VVIPs on Tirumala hills, seven youths from Orissa were arrested for possessing liquor bottles, sickles and cigarettes.

Vigilance officers said that the boys were taken into custody following reports that they were indulging in anti-social activities.

The boys work at Woodside Hotel, located close to the temple, as waiters. The vigilance department of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which was trailing the movement of the boys from Balasore district, took them into custody and handed them over to the police. The vigilance officers allegedly found cigarettes, alcohol bottles, sickles, CDs and religious literature from the room in the hotel where the boys used to stay.

M.K. Singh, chief security officer in Tirumala, said the police did not find any incriminating material on the boys.

“They were only non-Hindus and there is no bar on non-Hindus working at hotels or establishments in Tirumala,” he said.

Meanwhile, TTD executive officer L.V. Subramanyam has ordered sealing of the Woodside Hotel and directed vigilance officers to investigate the antecedents of all the workers employed in hotels and construction sites at Tirumala.