Chariot burning case at standstill without any investigation

Kakinada: The investigations into the burning of a temple chariot at Antarvedi in Sakhinetipalli mandal of Konaseema district remains at a standstill.

The chariot of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple was found burnt on 6 Sept 2020. Nobody knows whether it was an accident or an act of miscreants, but it  raised tension between the adherents of two religions.

To cool tempers, the state government intervened and built a new chariot for the temple.

Meanwhile, the police came to a conclusion that a mentally unsound beggar was smoking in the vicinity of the chariot and the chariot might have caught fire from his actions. Later, the beggar died. Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the state government handed over the case to the CBI.

Recently, an RTI activist sought details from the CBI on the status of the investigation. The reply was that no investigation was done so far, as the case was not fit for a CBI investigation.

Kothapeta DSP KVB Ramana, the state police’s investigation officer in the case, told Deccan Chronicle that the case was handed over to the CID and CBI but investigations were at a standstill.

Many Hindu organisations and individuals had expressed anger over the incident and went to Antarvedi to register their protest over the burning of the chariot.

Notably, in this context, some miscreants pelted stones on a church. The Sakhinetipali police registered cases against nearly 50 persons in this connection and sent them to remand. After much effort, they were released on bail but are  facing court cases. Curiously, neither the BJP nor other Hindu associations supported them with legal aid or cash assistance thereof.

However, former BJP state general secretary Vetukuri Suryanarayana Raju told Deccan Chronicle that the party supported the Hindu activists after their arrest and provided them some legal assistance.