Probe on into Fire Incident at Madanapalle Sub Collector's Office

Tirupati: Teams of police and senior officials have ramped up their investigations into Sunday night’s fire incident at the Madanapalle sub-collector's office.

The case has taken a political turn with the detention of a YSRC leader alongside several government officials for questioning. Official sources said YSRC leader Madhava Reddy,  former minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, was taken into custody by the police on Tuesday .

Reddy's frequent visits to the sub-collector's office in the last ten days leading up to the fire incident raised suspicions. Investigators are probing his actions in the office and the nature of the files he might have seen there.

The police are questioning several officials including the Madanapalle RDO Hari Prasad, former Madanapalle RDO and present Tirupati district special deputy collector Murali, senior assistant Gowtham Teja, and employees Imran and Aslam.

As part of the probe, the probe team confiscated the mobile phones of all the office staff for a detailed analysis.

Special chief secretary to Revenue, RP Sisodia, fire services director Venkata Ramana and regional fire officer Bhupal Reddy inspected the sub-collector's office on Tuesday.

Annamayya collector Sridhar and SP Vidyasagar also conducted an on-site inspection. They questioned the office staff.

A CID team is examining the burnt files to determine their content and significance. DGP Dwaraka Rao, who personally led the investigation, confirmed that this was not an accident.

The CID officials collected the files, computers and stationery that were either fully or partially damaged in the incident for further examination. The state government is considering involving experts from the National Institute of Fire Safety Engineering (NIFSE) units in Nagpur and Bhilai to conduct a more scientific investigation.

On Tuesday, Palamaner DSP Vishnu Raghuveer, along with a team of revenue officials, inspected the old building of the tahsildar office in Punganur to ensure the safety of crucial land records. The team gathered details on various categories of files and the officials who had previously and currently managed the section.