ANDHRA DGP SAYS VITAL CLUES IN TEMPLE VANDALISM FOUND, CONSPIRACY ANGLE BEING PROBED

Andhra Pradesh DGP Goutam Sawang has said that police are probing into conspiracy, communal disharmony and other angles in the historic Ramateertham idol desecration. The DGP said that police are questioning a few suspects in the case. Actually, the miscreants did not target the main Ramateertham temple which has about 16 CCTVs. The accused damaged the Lord Sri Rama idol in the small temple located on the hill top, which does not have proper surveillance.

Between September and December, as part of a special drive, the police department completed a security audit and geo-tagged as many as 57,548 places of worship especially temples. Around 13,169 CCTVs have been installed at 3,618 temples. In addition, police identified another 7,978 location and installed 25,783 cameras. All these places have been mapped and geo-tagged.

On the other hand, CID investigation into the Ramatheertham temple desecration has revealed that the main aim was to incite communal trouble and tarnish the image of the government.

“We are suspecting that culprits involved in the attack wanted to tarnish the image of the government and create tension and rift between two groups. Neither was there any burglary, nor any ornament was missing. We have observed that the culprits had full knowledge of the temple and the surrounding areas. Miscreants beheaded Lord Rama’s idol on December 29 by climbing the hill. Head of the idol and the Hacksaw Blade, which was used for the crime, was found in a pond near Ramateerdham,” said P.V. Sunil Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

CID officials led by P.V. Sunil Kumar visited the Sri Kodanda Rama Swamy temple at Ramatheertham in Vizianagaram district and launched the probe. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has ordered a CID probe into the Ramatheertham temple incident. But the Opposition is demanding a CBI probe.