Vellore: In a mysterious fire, a recently built chariot of the Gangai Amman temple and another smaller chariot belonging to the nearby Ponniamman temple, both situated in Sattuvachary area in Vellore, were substantially damaged in the wee hours of Friday, police and fire services sources said here. The bigger chariot, used for all important temple festivals, was built last year at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh and it is usually parked near the temple, sources said. The smaller chariot of the Ponniyamman temple had also been parked near the former and rather mysteriously, both suddenly went up in flames, sources said.
On information, the Vellore Fire and Rescue Services department personnel rushed to the spot and were joined in by members of the public to help douse the flames. They battled for nearly an hour to put out the fire. Top police and forensic experts also visited the scene of fire and are investigating. According to one version, some miscreants had gathered near the temple around 1 am early today and had been allegedly consuming liquor. Preliminary investigations by Sattuvachary police show that the miscreants had got a “message” on their mobiles after which they allegedly set fire to the two chariots and fled the scene.
The Hindu Munnani Vellore district chief, Mr. Mahesh visited the scene of fire and regretted that such a thing should happen after the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple fire. He sought police protection for all the temples in Vellore district. Special team has been formed to nab the culprits soon, police sources said.
