Vijayawada: The AP government on Friday formed a Special Investigation Team headed by additional director ACB, G.V.G. Ashok Kumar, to investigate offences relating to temples, including desecration of idols, in a flurry from September 2020 across the state.
The Director General of Police issued a memo constituting the SIT with 16 members including its chief and superintendent of police, Krishna district, M. Ravindranath Babu, additional SP, SIB, S. Sridhar, additional SP, CID, and L.V. Srinivasa Rao as members.
The forensic science lab director has been asked to accord top priority to any request for support made by the SIT. Agencies like CID and intelligence will also extend support to the SIT for the investigation.
In a separate development, the Andhra Pradesh IPS Association condemned the “malicious propaganda” targeting some officers, accusing them of religious bias in the context of the temple attacks.
AP IPS association secretary Ch. D. Tirumala Rao said in a statement that some political party leaders were publicly casting aspersions on serving IPS officers, and this was affecting their professional integrity and sense of probity. He said these officers were appointed under Article 312 of the Constitution to maintain the unity, integrity and stability of the nation and to promote its secular fabric.
