Temple chariot burnt in Andhra Pradesh, 5 suspects held

TIRUPATI: Anantapur district police took five suspects into custody on the charge of burning a wooden chariot belonging to Lord Rama temple at Hanakanahal village in Kanekal mandal of the district in the early hours of Tuesday. The burning of the chariot created tension in the region, with police heightening security as a precautionary measure.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the incident and directed Anantapur collector V Vinod Kumar and SP P Jagadeesh to visit the village and investigate the case.
He also directed district police to arrest the accused responsible for the incident at the earliest.
Kalyandurg DSP Ravi Babu was the first to rush to the village after learning about the incident. The villagers told him they noticed the chariot on fire around midnight on Monday and tried their best to douse the fire. But a part of the chariot was burnt by then.
Preliminary police investigation revealed that feud between two persons, who donated the chariot to the temple about two years ago, led to the incident. Five members of the group allegedly involved in the incident were taken into custody for questioning.
District SP Jagadeesh said there was no communal angle to the incident. "There was a disagreement on earmarking the parking space for the chariot. Temporarily a shelter was built for the chariot close to the temple. Some people torched the chariot past midnight on Monday," he said.
The district collector said the incident is being thoroughly investigated and all the accused involved in the incident will be brought to book soon.