Attacked at a temple fest

Hyderabad:  It looked like a high-octane action scene in a movie where the villains and goons create ruckus at public places. This, however, was a real-life incident involving actress-turned-politician Roja at a temple festival in Nagari. Roja, yesteryear top heroine in Tamil and Telugu films, who is presently a sitting MLA of YSR Congress, injured her right wrist during the scuffle. The incident happened when she took part at the traditional Gangamma Jatara in Nagari, Chittoor district. Every year, the Gangamma Temple festival is celebrated for a week. On the final day of the festival, which was last Friday, the deities were taken on a street procession and, Roja, the MLA of Nagari, participated in the event along with 500 women devotees.

Sources said that former minister and TD strongman Gali Muddu Krishnamanaidu was also present on the occasion. According to temple protocol, the ‘first honour’ of performing the last arthi to the deity is given to the sitting MLA. Therefore, Roja was carrying the arthi plate, when some of the TD and Congress men protested and demanded that the ‘first honour’ should be given only to local bigwigs. There was a big commotion and scuffle among the two opposing parties. All of a sudden, a person, allegedly from the TD forcibly snatched the arthi plate from Roja and in the melee the actress suffered a deep cut on her right wrist.

Roja and her supporters then staged a dharna in front of the temple for justice. The temple authorities sorted the matter by abiding to the protocol and giving the ‘first honour’ to Roja. When DC contacted Roja, the actress was taking rest and was under medication. Her husband and director R.K. Selvamani said, “It was clearly a planned move. They wanted to manipulate and take things under their control. Someone cut her hand with a sharp instrument; it could either be a blade or a knife. Since it was raining and she was bleeding, she developed fever the same night. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and given treatment and discharged later. Doctors have advised her to take rest”.